


The Adventures of Mercy Song

by nightsisterkaris



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: A shitload of overthinking went into this, Birth, Cybermen - Freeform, Daleks - Freeform, Did I mention there will be pictures?, F/M, Father-Daughter Relationship, Guess what they have a kid, I have illustrations to go with this <3, Life in the TARDIS, Luna University (Doctor Who), Major Original Character(s), Mother-Daughter Relationship, OC, POV Amy Pond (Doctor Who), POV River Song, Post-Library River Song, Pregnancy, Professor River Song - Freeform, River Song Being River Song, River Song's Diary, River Song's daughter, Rory Williams has the patience of a saint, Spoilers for River Song's Arc, Telepathy, The Doctor (Doctor Who) Needs a Hug, Theyre both badasses, Time Loop, Time Travel, Unplanned Pregnancy, fanart is included, fanart!, rory - Freeform, timebaby, timetot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-03-15
Packaged: 2021-03-16 21:34:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 14
Words: 41,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29706894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nightsisterkaris/pseuds/nightsisterkaris
Summary: Mercy Song isn't your normal alien time traveller. Between meeting her own parents backwards and forwards and back around again, She has quite the life trying to keep it straight. Her own mother, River Song herself, didn't know who she was for years. Jumping around the timestreams of her doomed family, Mercy travels the stars, bent on the mission to save her Mum, no matter what it takes to do so.
Relationships: Eleventh Doctor/River Song, Jack Harkness & River Song, Jack Harkness/River Song (Implied past), OC & River Song & Eleventh Doctor, The Doctor/River Song
Comments: 41
Kudos: 21





	1. Introduction

**Author's Note:**

> Just a quick apology: The first few chapters are a bit weak, but I promise they get better as you go along! <3

River had kept the device on a chain around her neck. The little medipod that had tested her blood a few months before and confirmed her suspicions. The coin sized bead that read ' _pregnant +'_ hung around her neck as a tender reminder.

She had set the device to Gallifreyan. She was one of two in the universe who could read the language. While most of the galaxy considered it to be a dead, indecipherable script, River had swiped the small device after the Tardis had read her mind and offered it to her, without telling her husband. River knew that Tardis loved her like a daughter, and she was quite happy that the time traveling ship kept it a secret for her.

She hadn't seen the Doctor in months. Not since she had begun to show and her clothes became tight(er).

But now her little device was almost pointless. Anyone with eyes could tell her condition, but the projection mist she wore in public kept it secret enough. For a while, River had just started wearing more loose clothes, but eventually she had to stop. As beautiful of a woman she was, she couldn't exactly try to make muumuus fashionable for a few months. 

So the perception filter had become invaluable, and there had been one or two scares where she almost ran out, but somehow she always managed to get her hands on more. River was quite a resourceful woman, with many connections in this massive universe. 

She was careful not to use her vortex manipulator unless it was absolutely necessary. She didn't know what kind of effect the time vortex could have on her baby, but she was sure of one thing; this was the weirdest pregnancy she had ever heard of. Not even the wildest theories could have prepared her to wake up one night to her stomach absolutely blazing with the golden light of regeneration energy, or the experience of her baby seeming to never want to sit still. 

Every day in class, she was forced to control every movement, every micro-mannerism she showed, every word she said. No matter if she was off balance or her child moved, River hid it, and she hid it well. 

River had done some research in the School library, and she had even heard of how in human pregnancies, the babies could lend their mothers stem cells when their mothers were hurt. This phenomenon even happened to her, well, _sort of_ happened to her. Once, she had been cutting fruit in her apartment to make a snack. She had a craving for some Lenpæs, (which were like mangoes, but purple). While she sliced the exotic violet fruit, her baby had suddenly kicked her ribcage, catching River off guard and her knife slipped. She’d lifted her hand to observe the line of bright red blood, but to her surprise, golden light knitted it back together. River had certainly not expected the glow of regeneration to heal the cut on her hand almost immediately, and she’d panicked in fear. The whole ordeal had confused her for quite a while, until she finally worked it out, as that cut wasn't enough to make her regenerate, considering she couldn't anymore. The only option left had been her child, which she scolded out loud at it’s waste of regeneration energy.

When she was four months along, while on a visit to Earth, River had stopped at a clinic for financially struggling mothers, and was able to pay for a cheap ultrasound. They didn't ask for much information, which River liked. The nurse had happily shown River her baby, and printed out a photo of the child. "I think you're having twins!" The nurse had said, and informed her that Baby number two would probably show up next visit. 

River had smiled with the upper knowledge. She wasn't having twins. Baby two didn't exist. Her baby had two hearts like her, a timelord.

But as she thought more on the subject, she became worried. What percentage timelord was it? If just by being concieved on the Tardis made River enough Timelord to regenerate and have two hearts, what did that make this child? Mostly Timelord? Being the child of the last of it’s species and its Part-Timelord mother, conceived once again in the Tardis... The numbers were adding up in support of her theory.

Any fully Timelord child would be invaluable to not only the evils in the Universe, but Madame Kovarian. River vowed to never let that monster of a woman find out.

River was also careful to never let Luna University know of her baby. To keep her child safe, she must never tell anyone of it's genetics. Being the friend of the Doctor was dangerous enough. The child of the Doctor? Too easy to slip and become a pawn in some evil's game.

So she told no one the truth. Those that found out were lied to. She kept her little baby as best a secret she could. 

River was what some would consider to not qualify as Mum material. She lived a crazy life, visiting places and people before they became artifacts she dug up. She went on adventures with the mad man in his blue box, and saw the stars from every point in time. She had a hard time at first, adjusting to the idea of being the vessel of a growing life. But she couldn't just terminate the pregnancy. Not when she would never know how this little one could change the universe. Whether for good or evil, time was being rewritten inside her, changing as each cell multiplied and split, as her middle became firmer and more rounded.

Anyway, with an augmented lifespan, she could certainly manage eighteen years with a child of her brilliant husband. Her biggest problem was _how._

Luna University, while banning any forms of time travel, had loopholes she made good use of. Calculated times when the Moon’s security would flicker and she could pop out for a mere half second and return having been on an adventure with her husband for days by her experience.

But as her child grew, so did her fears. What if the Silence found out? What if they took her precious child, just as she was taken from her own mother?

She could imagine them using her child against its father, replacing the failed assassination attempt by their mother with the deadly killer of a child. Professor Song envisioned this child going places, razing whole planets on its hunt for whatever Madame Kovarian wanted done. 

So she swore she'd never let that happen.

She'd protect her child to her dying breath, and never tell it's father.


	2. Trickling Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor visits his wife, and for the first time, finds that she doesn't want him there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Dedicated to @RaissaGodoy because her comment on the introduction almost made me cry. Thank you so much!

Spinning around the controls of the Tardis, The Doctor grinned, "Off to a new place!" 

"You know, Doctor, Rory and I would really like to go home for a bit," Amy sighed, patting Rory's back while he retched, "The laser-eyed-frog swamp was a little much, and we'd both like a shower." Amy tried to untangle her hair, face contorting as she pulled at the strands.

"Right..." The Doctor's grin fell, "Of course! Anyway, Next Stop; home for you two!"

"Thank you!" Rory coughed, pinching muddy algae off his shirt.

The Tardis scraped into existence, materializing with a final bong and opening the doors to show the Pond's home. "See you soon, we presume?" Amy smiled, waving goodbye.

"I'll try!" The Doctor agreed. 

"Go visit my daughter sometime, I'd like to know how she's doing!" Amy asked.

"Well, since she's a professor now, teaching all her days," The Doctor smiled with a dramatic pause, "But her nights? Those are between her and I."

"Hey! That's my daughter you're talking about!" Rory said, "Don't you forget that I still have my sword!"

"Oi! He's her _husband_!" Amy laughed, "Don't be getting your knickers in a twist. He's allowed to think that way."

"It's my job to come at her every call! Even if it is a butt dial..." The Doctor mock bowed and laughed, "Pardon the pun."

"I did _not_ need to know River sends you booty calls..." Rory groaned.

Amy bit her lip, giving Rory a side glance and elbowed her husband, "Wrong pun." 

"What? huh? _Oh..._ " Rory grimaced. He gave the Doctor a suspicious glance at the lewd innuendo.

"We have to go now, Doctor, and we had a lovely time!" Amy smiled, hugging the Timelord goodbye and taking her husband's hand as they exited the tardis. Outside was a bright spring day, crisp wind blowing into the Tardis interior, and The Doctor took a deep breath. There was so much in that air; fresh mud and fresh plants pushing up through the soil and kids finally getting to go outside without bundling up first. Amy and Rory crossed the street to their little house and turned around to wave one more time.

"See you soon, Ponds." The Doctor waved them off, half heartedly sulking his way back to the controls.

Sighing, he pulled off his coat, setting his sonic screwdriver and his psychic paper on the console. The Doctor undid his bowtie, leaving the fabric hanging around his neck. He flicked a glob of mud off his knee. "What’s next for us, old girl?" He asked the Tardis.

Seemingly in response, the Tardis powered up, the screen flashing two words, " _Freshen up_."

"What has gotten into you, sexy?" The Doctor said, frowning at the words, worried when the Tardis took off on her own. "Well, aren't you feisty today!"

The same message blinked on the screen. "Fine, fine! I trust you!"

With that, the Tardis took flight, dematerializing as the Doctor went off to his own quarters and took a shower, changing into another set of black trousers, an Earthen sky blue dress shirt, matching red bowtie and suspenders, and throwing on another tweed jacket. He parted his hair in the reflection of the polished metal walls, and came back to the Console room. "What have you got for me this time, Sexy?" He asked the Tardis, taking and slipping his sonic and paper into his pockets. He checked their location and was rewarded with a surprise.

"Luna University?" The Doctor grinned and rubbed his hands, "My dear Rivah!"

The Tardis whistled in response, doors squeaking open. The Doctor almost ran out, finding himself in the apartment he'd finally learned how to _properly_ kiss his wife all those years ago, (long story). Her bedroom wasn't far. 

He glanced over to locate the open door to the right, looked to the ground, folded his arms, and leaned against the walls. Looking inside, he saw his wife. 

Her goddess-like golden curls were amassed in a messy bun that was tied up by an olive green strip of cloth, knotted like a bandana around her head. She wore a dark blue, empire neckline tunic tied high under her breasts that reminded him of a dress from the 1810's. She sat cross-legged with her back to the wall of her bed, working on something in her lap, and papers to grade littered the bed. A few balls of yarn were tucked beside her, and the needles clicked monotonously as she worked. He was surprised, to say the least. It was strange to see the bold woman who could make Daleks cry for mercy do something as domestic as knit a blanket or shawl or whatever it was.

"I knew I heard the Tardis." River didn't look up from her work. "Hello Sweetie."

"Is... is that _knitting_?" The Doctor asked.

"No _Hello, how are you?_ Well, I need _something_ to do with my hands when you're not here." She replied, tying off her project. She picked up her work, showing him what appeared to be half of a knit, Tardis blue blanket. It was maybe a yard long and was obviously still in dire need of progress, considering the amount of loose ends that were hanging from the edges.

"Looks a bit small for you," The Doctor observed.

"Maybe." River sighed, setting it back in her lap.

"No kisses for me?" The Doctor pouted, "You're usually smothering my mouth and sticking your hands where they don't belong by now."

" _Don't belong_? Oh you enjoy it, Love." River smirked, but she made no attempt to move or even tease him.

"So...."

"Can't. I have the Venusian flu." River quickly said, "Don't want to get you sick."

"River, Timelords are immune to that. You're part Timelord." The Doctor frowned, looking at his wife. He came into the room, socks padding across the carpet and he sat down next to her on the bed he knew well. River stiffened at his presence, shoulders tensing. "Anyway, you look really healthy to me," The Doctor added.

"Doctor-"

"In fact, the air around you is crackling with regeneration energy... But I thought..."

"It's just my meditation." River said suddenly. He frowned. Meditation certainly didn’t sound like something she’d enjoy, and he had no idea how that could lead to such high levels of energy brimming in her. She was lying, plain as day.

"This is strange. You'd be visibly glowing if the lights weren't so bright. I can almost smell it." The Doctor mussed, "But it's strange. I've never seen this before. River, are you okay?"

"I'm fine!"

"Here, what if I just..." The Doctor worried, pulling out his sonic screwdriver and scanning her with a couple swift sweeps. He flicked his wrist, the sonic loading the results.

"Doctor!" River's voice was urgent. Her hand clamped over the sonic to hide whatever it said from him.

"What, sweetie?"

"Don't. _Please_. Just hand me the sonic."

"But Rivah!"

"Trust me Doctor, just this once. Please. Hand me the Sonic. Now." River begged, "Don't look."

The Doctor closed his eyes. "I trust you, Rivah," The Doctor sighed and didn't look when his tool beeped with results. He handed it to her, sadness in his eyes. What was she really hiding? What could be so serious that she'd hide it from him? Her husband? He thought they were past all that _spoiler_ mess. This was the most linear they had ever been for a while now, and now she’d decided that there was one more thing he had to wait on. With the rate she was going, he wouldn’t learn anything new until he was meeting such a young version of her that there would be nothing to learn about her in the first place.

"Thank you." River said, and the sonic made a small beeping sound as she deleted the results.

"Is this another super-secret-spoiler or something?" The Doctor asked.

River stared him dead in the eye. "Yes, _spoilers_. This is a huge spoiler." 

"Well then!" The Doctor forced a smile. He reached over and retrieved his sonic. "Since you're clearly not sick, and I'm assuming you're not seriously injured, I can do this, right?" 

The Doctor's hand darted out and cupped her jaw, bringing her in for a sweet kiss. "I love you, Rivah."

"Love you too." River's eyes were still closed from the kiss when he pulled away, looking over the features of her soft face. The Doctor pecked her one more time. 

"And let me know when you need me."

"I will."

"Even if it's just take-out from that restaurant on Untiparie." The Doctor added, "Or Jelly babies. Or Fish fingers and custard. Maybe a fez!"

"Why would I ever need a fez?" River raised an eyebrow, "Are you high or something?"

"Just on you!" He tried to flirt, failing miserably. He was so lucky she found it endearing, rolling her eyes at him.

" _Flirt.”_ She called him pointedly, “I'll see you soon, love." River was making it clear he had to leave.

The Doctor kissed her forehead and got up to go as she wanted. He stopped, turning around once more, "And River? This is for you." The Doctor reached into his pocket, pulling out a perfume bottle. He tossed it to her. "Psychic paper told me you needed more perception filter."

River's eyes widened as she caught the bottle, and the Doctor spun on his heel, heading back to the Tardis.

“Well that was a rubbish visit, sexy,” He grumbled as he left.


	3. Love Like The Tides, Always Flowing in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> River gets some answers as her pregnancy wraps up.

Maybe it was just her loss of center of balance. Maybe it was her body's crazy hormone spikes. Maybe it was her own stupidity not to at least educate herself a bit more on Timelord/Human pregnancies when she’d had access to the Tardis library. Whatever it was, River regretted not knowing what the hell was going on. 

She made a mental list of things she did know so she could address those that she didn’t.

_ What I do know: Regeneration energy like this isn’t common. Why? I don’t know. _ __  
_ What I do know: Human Pregnancies are nine months and are technically born premature because if it was long the babies wouldn’t fit through the birth canal. Timelord Pregnancies are eight months because regeneration energy is significantly substantial to the child’s growth and they are born more advanced than humans. What will be my experience? I don’t know. Perhaps the two species will cancel out and it will be nine months. _ _  
_ _ What I  _ **_don’t_ ** __ know: What the Hell is going on?

Her list went on for quite a long collection of mysteries and questions, most of which she pondered late at night when insomnia plagued her.

Some nights, she could hardly control the regeneration energy from blazing from her, lighting up like a star going supernova, illuminating her room brighter than day. Most days, she could hardly eat the school food, and got take-out or just didn’t eat at all. But one thing was certain; River felt alone. In a few weeks, she could expect to hold her baby in her arms, and she was downright terrified.

River would sit on her bed, having imaginary conversations with her Mum, pretending that Amelia Pond sat beside her, an arm around her back, telling her that everything she worried about was perfectly normal and she would be fine. That everything would be okay.

At night, she dreamed of her child's future. She dreamed of her husband sleeping beside her, wrapping an arm around her middle to press his palm against her rounded stomach. She dreamed of his smile when he'd hear his son or daughter laugh and giggle at his antics. River saw his pride as the child stared with eyes full of wonder at the sight of so many stars out the Tardis door. She dreamed of him spinning into the room with another idea, telling the baby where he was taking them next. He'd probably do something ridiculous and get a tiny fez. 

And she couldn't bear it.

This child could never have that future. River had decided that they could never know who they truly were, or have the experience of travelling with their father. Because their father could never know. The fewer people who knew about the child, the better. 

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

River turned over on her bed, readjusting the pillow between her knees, the pillow behind her back, and the one poking from under her shoulders. At night, she had no fear of being seen. The Hallways of the apartments in Luna University had special monitors that only responded to suspicious activity like breaches or prolonged activity after the lights went out to make sure the faculty were not bothered by students after school hours.

Doctor Song stared into the dark, a hand rubbing the sore spot above her lower back. Unlike most expectant mothers, River didn't have time for the fancy creams and scrubs to prevent aches and stretchmarks. As advanced as the technology around her was, she'd have to live the rest of her life with the stripes her growing child stretched along her skin. She hated them. They didn't look cool and acceptable like scars. When she showered, she looked down to see angry pink lightning strikes dancing across the far-from-elastic skin of her strained stomach. She preferred to just wear her projection filter and not see them at all.

As River drifted off, she was suddenly brought alert by the shadow of a man walking oh so silently along the hallway of her apartment. River dared not hope, and yet she prayed it wasn't.

The man slipped into her bedroom, and toed off his brown dress shoes. Draping a certain tweed jacket over the chair, he sat down on her bed, taking off his suspenders and trousers. "My dear Rivah," He whispered. River feigned uninterrupted sleep.

Her husband climbed in behind her, lifting the blanket to curl up against his wife's back. He removed the pillow supporting her back, moving it to a much needed location under her stomach. "Hello Sweetie," The Doctor spoke in a voice so hushed she strained to hear it, "Don't worry, I'm a much older version of the me you know now. You told me this was a hard night, and so I decided to help you through it... You usually would have woken up to me by now, but I guess the baby has you exhausted."

River didnt know what to think, and just kept her breaths even, savoring the feeling of her love beside her. Even the child, which had been practicing gymnastics earlier, settled. River wondered if somehow they knew their father was there.

"Hmmm, settling down for your Mummy now, are you?" The Doctor's hand snaked over her bump, finding where the baby pushed against her side, his warm palm seemingly to do the trick. A tear trailed down River's face, her hearts fluttering at his touches. "River, I know you're awake," He suddenly said in a normal voice.

River was silent.

He repeated, "You don't have to worry, I'm a much older-"

"-Version of the one I know now?" River finished, and another tear escaped her eyes. She turned to stare up at him, her arms reaching up so she could touch his face. "My love?"

"Yes, and I promise you, everything works out in the end." The Doctor said, and in the darkness, he moved his hand from her stomach, and found hers, holding it tight, interlacing their fingers.

"That means I failed."

"You didn't fail at all, sweetie," The Doctor told her. River turned her head to look at him in the very dim light coming from the stars in the window. "I'm just here to tell you that she-"

" _She?_ No more spoilers," River warned. Her emotions soared. It was a girl!

"The baby, she grows up. She’s safe- well, _mostly safe_ \- well, safe _most of the time_ \- minus _that one instance_ \- well, maybe multiple instances..." The Doctor faltered when River rolled her eyes and elbowed him.

"Not helping at all." She hissed.

"Yeah, sorry," he paused, "May I at least calm a few of your fears?" The Doctor asked, wrapping an arm around her, getting comfortable by her side. “Don’t forget to breathe.”

River nodded, and the Doctor buried his nose in her golden curls. She sighed, "The glowing?"

She heard him smile, "You don't have to worry about the Regeneration energy high you've been experiencing. It's normal for some Timelords."

"I feel like I have more than I'll ever need."

"Don't forget to breathe, Riv. Unborn timelords take a lot of energy to grow. I'm honestly surprised it worked out so well for you. Sometimes mothers are drained. You were always a miracle, Rivah" He whispered in her ear. "It's okay if you feel random urges to take a sudden nap. Take it easy, sweetie. Listen to your gut."

"My gut is currently telling me to go eat a million of my Mother's cookies, so I think that sounds like a good idea." River agreed.

"Does... Does Pond know yet?"

River sighed, "No."

"I'll stay quiet then."

"Thank you," River said. She paused, "What about... I'm going to sound absolutely crazy, but... I'm still new to this telepathy thing, but sometimes I hear..."

The Doctor burst into a grin, pulling himself over to see her face. "That's amazing!"

"I didn't even finish," River huffed.

"You already have a telepathic connection to the baby! That's what you hear. The baby! It has the Gallifreyan telepathic ability just like us. It's reaching out, exploring that constant consciousness nearby, taking comfort in it's mother. Timelords are known for having close relationships with their mothers. It's getting to know you by sharing its thoughts. Well, she can’t think in feesable words, she’s thinking in emotion and sensation. So that's what _that_ is..."

"Are you reading out of a book?" River asked. 

"No, No, just remembering the things you've told me over the past five months. Trying to ease your mind so you can sleep tonight," The Doctor went serious, "Future you said you had a breakdown tonight. Once the time loop was fixed, I decided to come, since I wanted to help my wife." The Doctor squeezed her hand, holding her close.

"But... How did you find out about all... this?" River sighed, waving her hand around her belly.

"Spoilers, Sweetie." The Doctor imated her sweetly, and he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. They lay in silence for a while. "Quite the spoiler, in fact. Neither of us saw it for what it was for a very long while..." He trailed off, his nose buried in her hair.

"Please tell me; am I a good Mum?" She says, shattering the quiet.

"The best." The Doctor says, and pauses, inhaling a few times as if about to say something, but cutting himself off as if he suddenly decides not to. "But Rivah, you must hide her from me as long as you can. Time is difficult and it's easy to ruin with the wrong tampering. I can't go into the details. But for undisclosed reasons, you have to keep her a secret from the universe."

"That was already my plan." River replied.

"I know, I just had to re-enforce it." He said, "I want you safe."

"Then you need to stay safe. I can't come to your rescue quite as easily anymore."

"I thought I was the one doing all the catching and rescuing," The Doctor teased. 

"It's called marriage, sweetie," River compromises. Suddenly, she flinches.

The Doctor frowned, "Are you okay?"

"It's just braxton hicks, sweetie. Just practice contractions." River shied it off. Except it wasn't. She'd been having them all day. And she'd lost her cervical plug yesterday. Her water hadn't broken yet, but she knew it wouldn't be long.

The Doctor snuggled closer against her, "Breathe, Riv," He whispered tenderly, "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I have until morning."

"Then stay right here," She answered, allowing him to lul her to sleep.

When she awoke, he was gone.


	4. Shallow Options

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> River realizes she needs one more thing before she has her baby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The idea of Vortex Manipulator Boosters is just a plot device to help move things along. They do not exist in canon.

The moment River realized she was in labor, which was really the moment she woke up to shooting pain in her pelvic cradle, she layed back down, pulled out her phone, and cancelled classes for the day. Her hips ached. Her back ached. Her thighs felt like they were fatigued from running for miles. She could feel every muscle in her stomach contract around the rounded, convex curve of her baby, and tighten to her core. It's an odd sensation, while painful, as her body moves her pelvis to open and the child into position. It's a heavy feeling, weighing down upon her lower middle. It hurts.

River removed a painting from it’s nail in the wall, pulling it to reveal the little door behind it. She opened the safe where she kept the satchel the Doctor had once given her. It was a gift from a while back, the star feature being the bag's Tardis-like technology. The satchel was bigger on the inside. She could put in anything that fit through the top. Also like the Tardis, the bag was mass controlled, so it never felt like more than five or six pounds.

Inside were provisions, a first aid kit, a few baby things she had acquired, and the little Tardis blue blanket she had knitted a while ago, and stitched in golden thread, the last name of her baby; _Song,_ with a blank for the first. She had considered many times what she would name them, she hadn't known the gender at the time, but figured it would be easiest to give them a simple name, maybe in memory of their father, who would be simply documented as _John Smith_ , if there was any documentation at all. But since Her husband’s slip-up the night before, she was already narrowing the possible names down, and she had her needle and thread thrown into the top, ready for when she made her choice.

Deep in the blanket’s gold and blue fibers was the smell of regeneration. Warm, shining energy that River had been brimming with for months. She hoped it would provide her baby comfort with the intricacy of so many stitched stars and constellations. She hoped it would say _"Your Mummy loves you, little one."_

River reached in and pulled out a weapon, the Alpha meason gun she prefered. The woman held the blaster for a second or so before changing her mind and placing it back in her bag. She never knew when she would need it. Throwing in a psychic pen, _(The Doctor's gift, which also allowed to send messages and could write anything to be read as needed)_ and a canteen of water, River strapped on her Vortex Manipulator.

River was careful, oh so careful, in setting her manipulator. She needs to get out of here fast. Luna University is no place to have a baby, and she couldn't risk discovery now, when everything was so close to closure. She was scared of using a vortex manipulator. She'd heard stories of people whose pregnancies ended badly... or never had the chance to come to completion.

Taking a deep breath, River pressed the button, and zapped out of the apartment.

She re-materialized on a dreary planet in the slums. Rain seemed to ooze through the air instead of fall, and the air was thick with the smell of street vendors and sweaty, unwashed bodies. River was usually not bothered by a stench, but this time, she retched. The alley way she stood in echoed with lizard-cats screeching over scraps of garbage and trashy muck.

River lost her breakfast to the ground, and she wiped her mouth on her sleeve, spitting the rest from her mouth. Her tongue twisted with disdain of the aftertaste.

She had to find her friend. If she was going to conceal her child after it’s birth, her friend had what she needed.

Every step seemed to help her pains, easing the ache in her spine and dulling the fire in her thighs. Moving quickly through the crowds, River found it.

A little shop was boarded up and paint was thrown over the walls, reading _"Vacant"_. She knew better. Lifting a poster, she pushed the doorbell. Once let in, River was hit with the fumes of cheap liquor and booze and sex.

"My friend, What brings you here?" A woman with greasy pink hair and a slutty outfit asks, grinning as she made drinks over the counter, "You look like you hung out here one too many times!" She waved in reference to River's stomach, "You bring your baby-faced husband this time?"

"No," River said, "Roxi, I need something else. A Favor-for-a-favor kinda deal?"

"Ah, what can I do ya for?" She slurred, "I can get you a baby-safe drink to you in no time!"

"I need a shimmer coat."

"A shimmer coat? You might as well get one from any other vendors at the black market. Those are illegal."

"I eat illegal for breakfast." River joked.

"Amongst other unspeakable things. Looks like it finally caught up to you."

River laughed, "You know human pregnancies don't work that way."

"Well, neither do Zinopod reproductions!" Roxi laughed, sending four cocktails down the counter. She leaned in and whispered, "Us females got two while you got one. One for reproduction and one for the fun!"

"Sound's entertaining indeed," River smiled.

"Well, if you don't need a drink, I don't know what I'll charge you for my coat. Let's strike a deal, Song, woman to woman."

"Okay." River's hand smoothed over her belly, breathing through another contraction.

"If it's a girl, you just promise to return it and bring your handsome husband with you. If it's a boy, you pay full price and still bring your handsome husband with you." Jollenya offered.

"You're such a hoe." River grinned, "But my husband is _mine_."

"I wouldn't be so critical, we’re one in the same, slut!" Jollenya laughed, "Oh I've missed seeing you around, Riv."

"Me too, but I fear my hands are about to be very full, so I'll take your deal and your coat."

"Deal, Song." Jollenya nodded, "You be safe out there."

"Never." River nodded, getting up and letting herself in the back room. In the neglected janitor's closet hung a blue and grey long coat. Taking it from its hanger, River set down her satchel and put it on. She zipped it up, and she could immediately see the difference. From any angle, she looked slim as ever. The perception filter of the shimmer coat worked perfectly, and she was able to take up her pack again.

Waving her hand, River left the speakeasy bar and brothel, still needing one more thing. She needed a booster for her vortex manipulator. Jumping back in time almost three thousand years was no easy task, and her manipulator needed, well, a boost.

A crash of trash bins and a bout of cursing rang from the ally near her. That strong American accent? That blue coat and creative threats? She was right on time.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Captain Jack Harkness has more important things to do than to chase down lizard-cats. The little bastards looked like the product of some unholy matrimony between a Komodo dragon and a flea-ridden street cat. And they stank just as bad.

But this little bastard had stolen his nap sack, which contained his food supplements, papers, and most importantly, his pack of spare parts for his vortex manipulator. He'd had it fixed since his last run in with the frustratingly celibate Doctor.

Now, he needed to get off this stupid planet. He had no desire to be here any longer. But first, he needs to reboot his vortex manipulator. And to do that, he needed his spare parts, which were in his nap sack, which was currently in the jaws of that little nuisance, which was, at the moment, hanging from an electrical wire, chewing through the fine leather of his bag. "Hey! Gimmie back my bag!" Jack screamed at the little beast, "or I'll shoot you from that wire like a pair of drying socks!!!"

Jack was suddenly hit in the face with a compressed water tin, dropped by the little creature in response. "OUCH!"

The creature chittered with amusement, ripping through the bag and clawing, eating through anything organic. Jack threw up his hands, calling to the little animal. "I swear I will make your weird scaly fur pelt into a pair of knickers if you don't get down here right now!!!"

"As funny as that would be, I need something from you, Jack." A female voice said behind him. 

Jack whirled around to an angry face hallowed by familiar golden curls, an alpha meason gun pointed right at him, "RIVER SONG!!!" Jack grinned, "have you come to my helpless rescue?"

"No," River shot the blaster, sending a tickling, buzzing shot up to the little critter, which dropped the bag and scampered away; it's fuzzy behind singed. Jack caught his knapsack.

"I need a Vortex Manipulator booster. I have to go back almost three thousand years, and my own is drained. You're the only one who I could think of who won't try to take advantage of my condition right now."

"Condition? What are you, wounded?" Jack laughed, then River opened her large coat and Jack’s mouth fell open. "And who's spawn is _that???_ "

"My husband's," River closed her coat again, and it seemed almost invisible. No, not invisible, his eyes just couldn't focus on her middle, always guided away. Shimmer tech was in that coat.

“That doesn’t narrow anything down.” Jack stated.

“The Husband I actually love,” River rolled her eyes.

"Wow. I’m hurt. What's in it for me?"

"Not dying."

Jack laughed, "hasn't the doc told ya? I can't die. Tardis brought me back permanently!"

Rivers' eyes narrowed, "you don't want my husband to be cross with you. You will find that time and space is actually pretty small when he has a score to settle."

"And who is this-" Jack blinked, " _no way._ "

"Yes. And I am in Labor and very uncomfortable. I suggest you hand it over."

"Sure, whatever you want, gorgeous."

"Please, do call me Doctor Song. Or Professor."

"Whatever you say, Doctor Mama." Jack laughed again, "wait, since you're Mrs. Doctor, does that make you _Doctor Doctor_?"

"No. It makes me hormonal and very tired of your shit!" River said, taking the booster and attaching it to her own manipulator.

Jack hung his ripped sack around his shoulder, and nodded to River as she disappeared in a flash of blue light.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my. I'm _not_ gonna miss this." Jack smiled as he placed his recharged battery into his vortex manipulator, typed in the Coordinates that the tracker that he had slipped onto Rivers sleeve end. He wasn't gonna be left out of this one!

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

"SHIT!!!" River yelled out. She ripped the booster off her Vortex Manipulator, and threw it to the ground. It was completely useless.

A blue zap flashed beside her, and Jack Harkness, in all his audacity, showed his face.

"It was a dud!" She balled her fists. She checked her date and location. At least she was in the right place... New York, Just half a millenia late.

His reaction was priceless. "I didn't know," He said, reaching for her manipulator.

River pulled her arm away. She glared forward, and clenched her teeth as her stomach betrayed her and she concentrated through another contraction. "I need to get to my mother!" She groaned, "She's the only one who can know!"

"I know... about the baby, I guess. Is that what you're referencing?" Jack said, and River's infuriation with him doubled.

"If you ever once, in your entire endless life, breathe a word about this child, I will make the rest of your days an ever-waking nightmare," She threatened, and dropped her satchel from her shoulder, searching desperately for something, anything that could possibly help. She pulled out her psychic pen, and stared at it.

"What's that? It's too small to be a vibrator..." Jack joked.

"Of course you'd think about sex at a time like this," River muttered, and scrambled to find something to write on. She only had her wrist.

"Aw Professor, you know me better than that. I'm always thinking about sex," Jack snorted, "Still doesnt tell me what that is, though."

"It was a gift from The Doctor. Lets me send him messages to his psychic paper... I'm hoping that this time, It'll get to a version of him who won't care or remember this encounter..."

"Don't you have anyone else?" Jack asked, another friend might be able to help.

"No. No one who wouldn't betray me... no one I can trust," She began to write a plea on her wrist, the black ink forming the gallifreyan words in her elegant, calligraphic writing. The ink would change to another language anyway with a bit of concentration if needed, as it was psychic, but the Gallifreyan would remind him of the urgency. 

"Wait..." River stared forward, "I have a student... a Luna University graduate. She'd help me. I can trust her."

"What's her name?" Jack asked.

"Confidential," River answered, rubbing at the ink and replacing the Doctor's name.

"How do you know you can trust her?" Jack asked, staring at her inquisitively.

"She was the only student I ever told about my past. Not much, but enough that we consider ourselves good friends," River answered, and rewrote her message; _"Mercy, I'm in labour, I need a vortex manipulator booster. Find the Doctor, do what you must. Meet me on earth, Christmas of 5192, New York. You know where. Hurry, please. -Song"_

It was only after she sent the message that she realized her fatal mistake.

In her panic and pain, she'd written the whole thing in Gallifreyan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to those who have been commenting! I cannot even begin to tell you how much they mean to me!


	5. A Ripple in the Timestream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor meets a mysterious girl on a mission

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please forgive my shit art. The second image is really old and I didn't know how to use the art app that I drew it on. Forgive me!

The Doctor would consider himself to be a busy man, so to speak, between saving planets and people anywhere and anyhow throughout the great big universe. But even he needed a break sometimes. Vacation for the Doctor meant visiting family and friends. Usually he would have just dropped in on one of his companions, crashed Rose's lunchtime, had dinner out with the Ponds, or taken River to a new exotic place for dessert, of a much different sort. But now, he just wanted to annoy his wife, or blow something up with her, or take down a government, or seduce her, whichever came first... Maybe all at once.

"My dear Rivah!" The Doctor spun in anticipation, typing in the time and location coordinates into the Tardis. "What trouble shall we get into today?

The Tardis whistled and jerked.

"Bit of a rough landing, don't you think?" The Doctor frowned, and his face of confusion was funny enough to make a weeping angel laugh when he saw that he was _not_ at Stormcage. Instead, some planet's silver capital building gleamed like fire in the light of their red sun, the sunset an unexpected contrast to the prison security he was expecting. He was right in the middle of some planet's justice square. "Wrong spot... did I put in the coordinates wrong?" The Doctor closed the door, his fingers flying over the keyboard, "No, It appears to be right. Is there something wrong?"

The sound of blaster fire sounded outside, and a huge explosion shook the Tardis. The Doctor ran to the door and threw it open, just in time to see the remainder of a glowing cloud that bloomed from the capitol building turn dark, then implode on itself. The building crumpled, the explosion silent, pausing for a half second before exploding in the second, final blast, the implosion undone, shrapnel raining down. He would have been worried if he weren't in the Tardis. People ran, the natives of the planet screaming and running, their scales reflecting the bomb's light.

The Doctor stepped out, surveying the scene. "So this is why I'm here," He muttered, "well, better go check it out!"

People shoved as he ran in the opposite direction as them, toward the danger, as usual. As the Doctor ran, he scanned the crowd of people. Suddenly, an all to familiar head of curls running down the steps guiltily away from the explosion caught his eye. "RIVER!" He yelled, _"RIVER!"_ The curls kept running, not recognizing his voice.

In a split second decision, The Doctor swerved off his original path, and took off after his wife. She could run. Fast. As soon as her figure disappeared behind a street corner, he was straining to catch her again. He ran as fast as he could, always missing her. He'd see the last flash of curls just before he'd lose her again.

It didn't take long for them to circle back around. It wasn't a shock when he watched as the woman dashed into the middle of the square again, and straight to his Tardis. "Oh River you bad bad girl," He mumbled, taking off after her again.

He threw open the doors to his Tardis to see her, facing away from him, leaning on one of the railings as she stripped off a red robe.

"River!" He said to her figure, "What are you doing here?" He asked, staring at her back.

The woman turned around and the Doctor stared at... a girl? Maybe nineteen?

"I'm not River," The girl giggled and smiled, "And what I'm doing is none of your business for once." She brushed her curls from her face. Those green eyes were baring into him, waiting for an answer as she threw the robe over the railing.

"I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else," The Doctor took a step back, "Wait, how are you in my- what are you doing in here?!?!"

"Escaping. That's what I'm doing. So If you could kindly drop me off somewhere I'm not being wrongly hunted for treason, that would be splendid." The girl's hair was red-ish blonde, now that he could look at it, with golden highlights. She wore a navy blue skirt and a leather archer’s vest, a cream dress shirt underneath. Her worn brown boots were covering grey, ripped leggings. A blaster hung in a holster at her hip.

"How do you know... You're not River..."

"No. Of course not!" The girl herself looked confused now.

"Who are you?!?" The Doctor drew out his sonic screwdriver. She twitched with confusion.

"It’s me, Mer-" She stopped, "You don't know me yet."

The Doctor stared at her, "Am I supposed too? Have we met?"

"I guess not for you. Ugh! This bloody sodding sucks! Mu- _Professor Song_ didn't tell me of this!" She took her satchel from her back, dropping it to the floor like she owned the place.

"Professor Song? You know River? Are you one of her students?" The Doctor was lost.

The girl sighed, "Sort of. I'm Maelstrom. My friends call me Mae."

"I'm assuming I know you?" The Doctor stuttered, "In the future, I mean?"

"Yes. And that's really all the questions you should ask me. Now, is there any way you could help me find somethin' for the professor? She's kind of in a sticky situation right now." The girl sat down in the Pilot's seat. The Doctor frowned at the audacity of her disrespect.

"What does she need?" The Doctor sighed, "And why can't I come help her directly?"

"She sent me. Well, she needed help and I offered a long time ago. Actually, she was perfectly fine then she needed something so I volunteered." Mae shrugged. "I’m hunting for this," She reached into her backpack, and pulled out a small book, the cover wrapped in leather, and opened the pages to a drawing.

"Why do you need a vortex manipulator booster?" The Doctor asked.

"She doesn't have the time to take the needed breaks between reasonable jumps," Mae said. "She's kinda on a timer."

"Is she sick? Is there a bomb? What is it?"

Mae snorted with a smirk on her face, "I guess we'll call it a bomb,” Her face showed complete amusement at his choice of words. “But I just need to get one of these, then I'll get out of here." Mae closed the book.

"Why doesn't she just call me and take the Tardis?" The doctor asked.

"I didn't ask questions," Mae answered, and put the book back into her satchel. The Doctor stared at her. She was suspicious to him. He didn't trust her.

"How did you even get into my Tardis?" He asked, calling back his memory of her running into it.

"Door was unlatched," Mae shrugged, rummaging through her pack. The Doctor toed over to a section of the console, and allowed the Tardis to lock in on the girl before him, tracking her past movements through the time vortex, and hoped she'd have some trail for him to follow.

"How did the capitol building blow up? Did you have anything to do with it?" The Doctor went to the controls of his Tardis, and punched in some numbers just to get them off the planet. The Tardis scraped out of space and time, reappearing in another.

Mae smirked, "Well, I was on my way to get a nice pack vortex manipulator boosters from an old friend's haunted tomb when I thought, _'oh well, this planet's caste system is a bit rubbish, I'll go enlighten them with equality and fireworks'_ , and it all went downhill from there." Mae didn't look up, but when she did, she flashed him an all too excited smile. The Doctor worked on his computer, and locked in on her past travels, marking the locations. Earth seemed to be a prominent destination, Luna University, as to be expected, several trips to historically significant planets, also expected, considering her affiliation with his wife, and many more.

“How do you know your way around the Tardis?” He asked, suspicious.

“Luck, I guess,” The girl smiled. They both knew she was lying.

He wondered if she was from his future. Perhaps a companion a few years down the road? And he certainly couldn't have forgotten her if she was from his past. "Well. I guess the details will be left unmentioned. What's your lead on the boosters?" The Doctor watched her, a frown on his face as she stood up, walked over to the screen, and pushed a few buttons, a map of the universe in this time period popping up in hologram. With complete confidence, Mae pointed out a star system on the map. He hoped she didn't notice the data which was tracking her travels.

"The tomb is on that asteroid," she said, waving her fingers to zoom in on the hologram. Mae nodded and squinted at him, "What are you looking at-?"

"The Tardis is giving me some schematics. It helps me adjust the time period it's aiming for," The Doctor lied, hiding the tab that he was trying to figure her out in.

"Oh, hopefully the boosters are still in the sarcophagus..." She mumbled, turning back to where she had been sitting earlier.

"You archeologists and your dead people..." The Doctor muttered, agreeing and punching in the coordinates. Mae reached over to pull the lever, but the Doctor frowned, "No." Mae backed up, her hands in the air in surrender, allowing the Tardis to take flight.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Mae was fast asleep on the Tardis. She had easily and fully embraced the fact that since she was on the Tardis, a time machine, meant that she could take as long as she needed to help her professor. It had taken quite some convincing that she would be fine, and the Doctor waited until he was sure she was asleep before he stepped closer to her. Pulling out his screwdriver, the Doctor pointed it at Mae.

As soon as he selected the _'scan lifeform'_ option, the tool sparked and short-circuited, becoming useless. "Damnit!" The Doctor exclaimed. He sighed, putting it on the console of the Tardis, who sucked it right up to fix it. "Alright sexy, will you scan her for me, then?"

The Tardis screen glowed, and something whirred and chirped with his results. "What do you mean, _'inconclusive'?!?_ " The Doctor huffed, "you're the smartest machine in the universe!”

The Tardis persisted. " _Inconclusive,_ " the screen read again.

"Fine. I'll have to do it myself" he strutted over to the girl's sleeping form. He stared at her before reaching his hands down toward her temples, "who are you, Maelstrom?"

Suddenly the Tardis tipped and jerked in flight, throwing the Doctor off balance. Mae woke with a start, falling off the chair at the commotion. "Is something wrong?" She pulled herself up, flailing to get ready.

"I- there shouldn't be. Nothing can shake this old girl!" Mae raised an eyebrow in doubt at her words as The Doctor struggled to get it under control. When his Tardis finally stilled, he stared around and into the distance. What happened? _'You really want to keep her a mystery from me, dont you?'_ he thought, and the stupid telepathic machine whirred an affirmative response, and spit out his like-new screwdriver. The Doctor took and pocketed his sonic, ran to the door, and opened it to the pleasant view of a graveyard. "Looks like we've got your tomb... Ladies first?"

Mae grinned, throwing her satchel over her back, her blaster to her side, and a pair of goggles around her head, lost in the curls on top of the scrap of blue cloth that served as a bandana.

"Well aren't you quite the gentleman," Mae swung past him and out the door.

"Aren't you worried about oxygen?" The Doctor asked.

"No. The nearby planet is known for its high tech bio-bubbles. Their neighboring asteroids gottem' as well," she said, stepping out. "See? Not dead!"

The Doctor straightened his coat and took a step outside, "Let's get this booster," he sighed. Suddenly, his screwdriver glowed. He pulled it out and looked at the results that were finally showing up.

The little screen flashed his answer. Mae's vortex manipulator had indeed been near River's, and he now knew exactly why.

It _was_ River's.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Mae walked ahead of him, carrying her notebook. "We're looking for the tomb of this family," She said, showing him the writing. The Tardis translated the words for him. 

"Why are we going to a tomb for this thing? Don't they sell boosters on the Black Market?"

"Can't. Any good and proper Black Market means bounty hunters, and bounty hunters mean me; captured or no longer alive." The girl shone her flashlight until she found the tomb she was looking for.

"What ever did you do?" The Doctor asked, frowning with worry.

Mae turned her head violently to look at him with a hard stare. "I was born," She muttered, and began pushing at the tomb doors, her flashlight between her teeth. "uh wittle pelp, pweeth?" She spoke over the flashlight, and the Doctor scrambled over to help push.

"How old are you, anyway?" He asked, grunting as the door unlatched, swinging open in a slow, heavy rumble. Mae took out a small camera, mumbled something about rule number one of archeology being documentation, snapped a picture, and put it away.

"Twenty-one standard years... But it's always fun to judge by the current year. In this age, I'm just over thirty millennia old," she snorted, and walked right into the tomb, laughter echoing through the dark tunnel. She clicked the button of a torch, and the torch caught. She smiled at him in the fire's light. The ignition was apparently linked up to a system, as torches all the way down the tomb suddenly glowed to life.

"I see why River likes you," The Doctor said, "Hardly an adult and already on the universe's top watch list," The Doctor probed, "I'm surprised I've never bumped into you before, or even heard of you."

"I go by many names. Keeps me safer," She paused, "Unlike my professor, who always announces her identity before a job."

The Doctor tilted his head, "You a hiree?" He asked, and sidestepped a dark stain on the floor. Liquid dripped from the ceiling, and sizzled on the floor. He soniced the stuff.

"More of a private adventurer than a bounty hunter myself. I prefer to just travel and study- _hey_ , why have you stopped?" Mae asked, "What's the face for?"

"We need to get out of here. _Now_." The Doctor scrambled.

"What is it?" Mae grabbed his sleeve.

"This asteroid's mineral content is mostly lithium," The Doctor replied. He watched her flicker with confusion, then she slowly worked it out, glancing from the water dripping from the ceiling, sizzling on the damp floor, and the fire on the walls. If that was really water... and the place was filled with lithium... and the water and lithium were reacting to make highly flammable hydrogen, a toxic gas when concentrated, and the gas was reacting with the water to make even _more_ flammable gas...

"This place is a bomb," She whispered, wrapping a piece of cloth around her face, as if it could protect her from the stuff that was being produced from the lithium hydroxide and the hydrogen gas. The Doctor exhaled completely, removing as much air from his lungs as he activated his Respiratory Bypass System. Mae waved her hand to the walls, "If that all is flammable, and one spark could ignite it, then what are these?" She stared at the torches. 

"Synthetic fire?" The Doctor wondered out loud, looking closer at the flames.

Suddenly, Mae's face went white and she exclaimed in anger, "I'm stupid! Why am I so stupid? You need to get out, now," She said, pushing him back with her shoulder. She turned away, and shone her flashlight along the walls, looking for the right way.

"While that's exactly what I've been trying to say, I have to ask why you suddenly agree!" The Doctor held onto her.

"They're Yazdrikes! Once they fully wake up and they realize I'm not of the royal family... One bite and I'm dead," Mae said, "Professor Song told me about them once... uh I'm so stupid!"

"Then we need to get out, like I suggested. Risk the black markets!" The Doctor offered but she tore away, sprinting down the tunnel. He watched her disappear around a corner, and he sighed, mumbling something about chasing her yet again.

"Have the Tardis ready when I get out!" She yelled behind her, Mae’s voice echoing through the tunnel.

"Not happening," The Doctor bit his lip, straightened his suit coat, and ran after her. The tunnel steepened, and the Doctor avoided puddles of liquid on the slick floor. He counted four long dead bodies, now skeletons, and hoped Mae wouldn't join them for River's sake.

Mae ran, darting around the corners until she had found the main room. Sarcophaguses lined the walls, and she ran her finger over the names until she found the biggest one near the back. She paused, took another picture, and with a grunt, pushed the stone lid off. "It's one of their former kings," Mae told him, "Welcome to the royal tomb!"

Inside of the coffin was the same alien body type of the planet they had recently escaped, now crumbled to dust, nothing but scales and bones. "Ha! found it!" Mae exclaimed, adjusted the cuff of her sleeve back up her arm to stay out of the nastiness, and she reached down into the dust and rot, pulling out what looked to be an ancient, first design vortex manipulator. He was confused, as that didn’t look like what they needed.

"Military grade," The Doctor observed over her shoulder, "How'd you know it was here?"

"Professor Song said that sometimes, if you're following an artifact through time, it's usually easy enough to track down if you knew an owner personally..." She answered, "And this guy, king Greyonius, was an idiot who stole this from me after I tried to assassinate him..."

"He took your manipulator?" The Doctor asked, "Must have been quite an adventure... Would explain why that planet hated you," he added, and Mae fiddled with the bones until the manipulator was free, and she turned around. The girl produced a small plastic sandwich bag, and placed the rusty manipulator and it’s disintegrating strap inside. 

“The boosters should be here too. Let me look around for a moment.” Mae placed the manipulator into her satchel and grinned before she shoved both hands into the dead-alien sludge, digging around.

“Hurry up!” The Doctor said urgently as the tunnel began to glow with the light of some not-so-happy venomous guard-reptiles.

“Found ‘em!” Mae exclaimed and held up the packaged slides that looked much more like her drawings from earlier. She shoved the boosters into a Ziploc bag as well and tucked them away for safe-keeping. The two turned around to leave.

There, behind them, was a little glowing lizard. "Run." The two said in unison.

The lizard screeched and changed colors, and apparently that was all it needed to do to awaken his friends, as the torches's other lizards crawled off their posts, the fire like bodies running across the walls toward Mae and the Doctor.

Taking off, the two bolted through the tomb, twisting and turning. As they made it out and into the final stretch of the tunnel, the Doctor heard a scream. Mae was still running, but a limp was quickly forming on her right leg. "Mae!" He yelled, and she met his eyes right before the place began to rumble.

Pebbles and clumps of wet rock and mud fell from the ceiling. Cracks formed in the walls as the whole place tried to kill them.

"Keep running!" The Doctor commanded more to himself than Mae.

She caught up, grabbing his sleeve again. The Doctor supported her as they ran, finally bursting out and into the view of the planet below and the faint light of their sun as it peeked over the side of the celestial body, allowing day to begin to break.

"We have to.. hurry back... before the sun shines... the biobubble doesn't block... radiation..." Mae gasped, and reached down to her leg, observing her ankle. "I'll be fine," She told him. A bleeding nick on her ankle told him otherwise. Her foot was already swelling.

"We need to get you inside the Tardis," The Doctor reached down and swung her up into his arms, carrying her. As he jogged, the Doctor looked down at the hand that was slung over his shoulder and around his neck, the Manipulator shill around the girl’s bony wrist. "Breathe slow, you need to lower your heart rate as best you can. Do you know of a cure?"

"There is none." Mae said.

"I have friends who can help," The Doctor snapped his fingers and the door to the Tardis opened. He rushed her inside. He took deep breaths of the clean, safe air, allowing himself to pull out of survival mode. As the Doctor set Mae down, her sleeve raised, and he caught a flash of writing on her wrist. It was Gallifreyan. The curling circles and lines and dots were unmistakable. His Photographic memory caught the message. " _Mercy, I'm in labour, I need a vortex manipulator booster. Find the Doctor, do what you must. Meet me on earth, Christmas of 5192, New York. You know where. Hurry, please. - P. Song"_

The Doctor stopped dead in his tracks. His stomach dropped, his head hurt and he felt sick. The Doctor stopped typing in the coordinates that would take him to the Sisters of the Infinite Schism. He was frozen. His Hearts skipped beats. Time itself seemed to stop as the words dissolved in a dizzying revelation. He heard nothing but his own two heartbeats and Mae's ragged breathing.

"River's going to be a mother," He choked, words an octave higher than usual, "She's a mother," Hands rubbed his face. "I need to sit down," He mussed, falling to his knees, crumpling to the floor. "She's having a _baby_..."

"She's having _me,_ " Mae said.

"What?" The Doctor squeaked. Who was this girl again? He was hardly able to process the idea that River had a child, but now this girl had just told him that _she_ was River’s daughter.

"I have a different timeline, and you were never supposed to know," Mae pulled herself up, "Listen. You _have_ to forget about me,” she said desperately, coughing hoursely.

"How- why... how can I? _Oh_ _River!_ " He said, Hands now shaking. He was used to surprises. Time was confusing and unexpected. But this? He never saw it coming. To be completely honest, River was the last person he expected to have a child, but he was hit with the real possibility, the idea, the world that was imaginable through the prospect of River as a _Mother._ In his mind’s eye, he could see her with children, and it was a beautiful, but terribly dangerous thought. He’s had these impossible pictures before, only on late, lonely nights where he could dream the secret hopes he so selfishly harbored.

Maybe sometimes the Universe gives good gifts.

"I need to get you help," The Doctor said, struggling to get up. He turned to the console. 

He must have already pulled the lever, as the Tardis had already landed. He tripped his way over to the girl, and picked her up. "What is your real name?" He asked, "You said you went by many names... What's your real one?" The Doctor asked as he carried her out the door.

 _"Mercy... Mercy Song,"_ She thought. He was too distracted to realize she was hardly conscious and hadn't spoken aloud.

Pristine white walls met his eyes, and a nurse recognized him on the spot. "Doctor, what's wrong with her?"

"She was bit by a Yazdrike. Please. Do anything you have too," The Doctor begged, and set the now unconcious girl on the gunray that was brought out. People rushed around him. Someone stuck her with an IV. Another scanned her.

"Stay here and let me ask you a few questions," the sister said. But the Doctor was too distracted. "Sir?" The nurse said again and again.

"She has a name, doesn't she?" Someone asked. 

"She's not human.. at least not fully." A nurse shone a flashlight into her unresponsive eyes. "Pupils dilated equally!" She shouted out.

“She’s not breathing! Hook her up with some oxygen!” 

"Sir, how long ago was she bit?" A sister asked.

The Doctor heard enough to answer, "About seven minutes," He choked out.

"We lost the left heart!" the hospital doctor called out. Someone else brought a large needle that he didn't want to think about.

The sister stared... "And she was bitten by a Yazdrike?" When the Doctor nodded, she got more concerned, flipping through her Medipad, "Sir, she _should_ be dead by now." 

"Tough like her mom," The Doctor's eyes welled up.

"Considering her cardiovascular system, you'd think she'd have been dead in half that time at most!" Someone who was working on Mae observed, her eyes huge. “Looks like she’s had her respiratory bypass system activated for quite a while now.”

"What do you mean?" The Doctor's head jerked up.

"The Scan says she had two hearts," The sister told him.

That was the last straw. It was like one two many shocks to his system. He was hardly breathing. "Does the scan tell you the exact species?" He needed to be sure. _He needed to know._

"It says Timelord-Human mix... aren't the timelords extinct?" The sister asked him. The Doctor sighed in relief. She wasn't another of Kovarian's failed genetic engineering attempts (long story). And he couldn’t just pretend to believe that she'd just inherited his wife's double hearts. The truth was on the front of his mind, quite literally staring him in the face, but he wasn’t sure if he could accept it. 

"Come get me from my Tardis if anything changes," The Doctor said quickly, turning around, denying reality, denying the truth.

Exclamations from the group of hospital workers inspired him to turn around. Mae was flatlining. In a split-second decision, he spun on his heels and began fighting to get closer. "Move aside!" The Doctor pushed everyone away as he scrambled closer to the limp body on the table. 

"Sir, we need to defibrillate her!"

"I know something better!" The Doctor held out his hands. They began to glow golden with regeneration energy. "This is definitely going to cost me a Kidney and an arm," He said, and pressed his hands to her shoulders. The warmth left his hands, and his eyes went dizzy. He felt sick and his hands went numb.

"Sir, what are you doing?"

"I'm saving her life!"

Suddenly, Mae took a huge breath, and her eyes flew open. "Dad," She gasped. The Doctor could only stare down at her. "Dad," She repeated. A tear finally escaped his eyes, and he cried. For the first time in a millenia, the Doctor cried as the sound of two hearts beeped on the monitor and she softly breathed below him.

With that, Mae fell out of consciousness, The Doctor watching her sleeping form. 


	6. When it Rains, it pours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> River gets what she needs, and finally gets to her Parent's home. But she is met with an all to familiar surprise that leads to emergency action.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: MENTIONS AND DESCRIPTIONS OF BLOOD AND NEEDLES

The sound of the Tardis was one of River's favorite sounds. The scraping brakes that were followed by her husband. But now, the sounds of the Tardis terrified her. She prayed to every deity she knew that the shimmer coat would do its job and he wouldn't notice. 

"Well, that was quick," Jack commented beside her as the blue police box finally materialized. "I think it's time for me to go," He said, and zapped out of existence. The door of the Tardis opened, and to her joy, out stepped her student, Mercy.

"You found him!" River said, "Thank you, Mercy."

"River!" Her husband appeared right behind the girl.

Her hearts fluttered at his voice, and River almost cried. She'd failed. He wasn't supposed to know. Instead of his complete shock -which is what she honestly expected- he just calmly passed Mercy and strode over to River.

"Hello sweetie," He whispered, and suddenly, River's water broke. The warm liquid ran down her legs and dripped to the ground, all over their shoes. "Well. That's one way to greet me," The Doctor said.

"I-" River stumbled, "I need to tell you-" Her words were cut off when her body was racked with pain, a contraction almost causing her to double over. He waited it out, arms around her shoulders in a hug.

"I know, Rivah, about Mae -or Mercy- whichever you call her," He said, "May I see you -her?"

"See who?" River stuttered and gasped with pain. Why was it important that he know about her student? Why did he want to see her? _Oh. He knew about the baby._ River despised how slow she was to think nowadays… The Doctor reached out and steadied her shoulder. 

"I can see that it's a shimmer coat, Rivah," He said, voice hushed. River's eyes met his, and she sighed. Unbuttoning her coat, her rounded stomach finally came into view. He looked down at it... "I'd always dreamed..." He said under his breath so quietly she hardly caught it. Instead of anything else she'd expected, the Doctor knelt down. He kissed her stomach, and began to whisper something she couldn't hear, forehead against her belly.

"What are you doing?" She asked.

"Embedding a message in their subconscious that I love them and so do you. That no matter what, they're not alone." He replied, then stood up. "I have to go now, Rivah," With that, he kissed her lightly. "Mae has something for you, I believe."

Mercy came over, "Professor Song." Mercy greeted her. River put her hand to the girl's face in thanks.

"Mercy! Thank you dear," River replied. 

"May I?" Mercy asked, and River nodded, placing her hand over Mercy's on the side of her stomach. "I brought you the booster." The girl pulled the little device from her pocket. River took it. 

"Thank you," River unlatched her manipulator and slid the device into the port on the side. 

"Sure thing, Professor Song, Now go, have your baby! I think that you should name her _Mercy_ , it's a great name!" The girl laughed.

_I didn’t tell her the gender…_ River thought, then pushed aside the confusion and smiled, "I'll think about it," and her husband and the girl turned around. As River set the coordinates for her mother's house in Leadworth, she overheard their conversation.

"She doesn't know who you really are?" Her husband asked.

"Not yet. But after this, everything changes," Mercy answered.

"Well then. I think It's time you wiped my memory, Mercy. You're right. I should find out about you when I'm supposed too," The Doctor said. "We have to preserve the timeline."

The Last thing River saw before zapping through the vortex was Mercy's hands on the Doctor's temples, her hands glowing gold.

And in that second, River worked it out, and she scolded herself, as she should have seen it sooner.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Amelia Pond Williams stood on her back porch, staring up at the sky. A cuppa in her hands, warming her fingers against the chill of the evening air. It had rained earlier, and the grass was wet and smelled like the earth. There was a word for it. _Petrichor_. It was one of her favorite smells. She looked up to the dying sunlight as twilight set in. Stars were appearing in the sky one by one as the sun dipped below the horizon, and was gone.

"You thinking about the Doctor again?" Rory appeared next to her.

"No. I'm worried about Melody," Amy corrected. "She hasn't visited or contacted us in months, and she usually stops by," Amy said, "I know it's probably fine," Amy gulped as she stared down at her tea, "I know she's an adult and I can't expect her to watch the timeline to closely, but I feel like I haven't seen her in forever. She's still that little baby I held in my arms to me."

"Well, I'm sure there's a reason," Rory reassured her. "Why don't you come inside. It's getting cold out," he set a hand on his wife's shoulder, guiding her indoors and to the kitchen.

A loud ring caused Amy to jump with surprise and tea dribbled down her chin. Setting the mug down on the kitchen counter, the redhead wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "I'll get the door," Rory called over his shoulder, and she heard the front door open.

A loud crash brought Amy to her husband's side, and she stared in shock at her daughter's form, supporting herself on the doorframe. River's curls were covering her face, and were matted around her neck in sweat. "Melody!" Amy exclaimed and reached out to her daughter, who fell into her arms. Rory helped maneuver the two women inside, and he helped her to the living room, where Amy hugged River. 

"What happened?" Amy asked, and River looked up and met her eyes.

"Baby... coming... can't tell Doctor," River gasped between breaths and she collapsed on the couch, her hands wrapped around herself. 

"What?" Rory squeaked, and Amy's mouth dropped open. "You're having a baby, Melody?" Amy was astonished. 

Rory looked her up and down, "You don't look pregnant," Her husband observed.

"What did I sodding say, Dad?" River squeezed her hands into fists, but she refused any other sign of her pain to show.

"What... what do you need us to do?" Amy asked, kneeling down on the floor to get right in River's line of vision. River didnt want to focus on her, so taking her daughter’s hand, Amy allowed River to grab it, and she relaxed at Amy's touch. River's other hand reached over her visually flat middle, and worked at her coat's hem.

"I didn't know who else to come to." River unbuttoned her grey coat, and suddenly her rounded middle was quite obvious, formerly completely hidden and seemingly flat. "What was that???" Amy asked, reaching out to tentatively touch her daughter's stomach.

"Shimmer tech. The only thing keeping her safe," River answered, her free hand smoothing the tunic over her middle, and suddenly her right hand clamped down on Amy's. She leaned forward into her mother for support, who held her daughter steady against her.

Amy took a deep breath as she tried to think and process the shock, letting Rivers' head fall on her shoulder as the woman breathed through the contraction.

"How far apart are your contractions, Melody?" Rory asked and took a calm breath, squatting down in front of River. He was surprisingly composed, and River was trying to reply to him, taking deep, long breaths.

"A minute and a half," River answered him, gulping away the fuzziness in her vision.

"We need to get you to a hospital NOW," Rory said, standing up. "I don't know much about pregnancy -or babies for that matter- but I know enough that you don't want to be here..." Rory's voice trailed off as he stared into seemed space.

"What's wrong?" Amy asked, and looked over her shoulder where her husband was staring. To her utter horror stood the sickening, terrifying sight of a Silence, hands waiting behind its back and a scowl on its pale, wrinkled face. "Melody, there's Silence," she whispered.

The labouring woman whimpered at the news, and Rory said, "I'll watch it for you. Amy, get Melody to the car. It's not safe here anymore."

"On it." Amy didn't lose sight of the Silence, and pulled herself away from her daughter. She grabbed a sharpie from the coffee table. Uncapping it, she made a large tally mark on her hand. She pulled River to her feet, helping the curly blonde woman hobble to the door. As soon as she turned around, she forgot why she was up.

"Go, Amy! I'm right behind you!" Rory's voice called, and Amy blinked with confusion... What was going on in here? Suddenly, River pressed a gun into her hand. Looking up, she saw why. A Silence stood in the Pond home, electricity crackling in between its fingers. 

Amy raised her arm, aimed, and fired the blaster at the Silence. The beastly alien fell with a screech. Rory backed away from it and grabbed the car keys. Rory snatched his sword from the wall, buckling the sheath around his waist. The Ponds hauled their daughter into the garage, and Amy spotted the tally mark on her hand. It was obviously made there so that she would not forget that there were Silence in the house. At this point, she couldn't remember when or how, but they were there.

Behind the garage door they were met with another Silence, which River snatched the alpha meason gun and shot on sight. Amy made another tally mark on her hand.

Rory jumped in the driver's seat, Amy and River in the back. Amelia held her daughter's hand, every now and then hugging her and telling her to breathe. Rory hardly waited for the garage door to lift before he was hitting the gas and shooting onto the street.

He drove like a speed demon, skipping lights and stop signs. "Be careful!" Amy yelled.

"I am!"

"Where are we going?" River asked, eyes squeezed shut in pain. Her hand rubbed at her middle.

"Torchwood," Rory answered, "I know some friends of the Doctor's who work there."

"No one can know!" River begged, and reached for her vortex manipulator. Amy grabbed her wrist and tore the manipulator from her hands. River floundered for it.

"No! Melody! You're getting medical treatment if it's the last thing I do! Now don't you argue with your Mum. I'm not going to let your kid be taken away from you. I swear on..." Amy paused, "I swear on my Son-in-Law's love for Fishfingers and Custard!"

"That's quite the promise," Rory muttered, trying to lighten the mood. He made a swerve on the highway, causing River to grunt in pain. "Sorry!"

"Melody, do you know how dilated you are?" Amy asked, holding River's shoulders so she could make eye contact. 

"I- I don't know. Last time I checked was at Luna University.”

“And how far?” Amy added.

“Five.. Five centimeters.” River answered her.

“When did you go into labour?” Amy asked.

“Yesterday afternoon I think. Water broke about an hour ago…” River clenched her teeth together, and took deep breaths.

“Oh my Lord,” Rory commented, “ _And you were labouring all that time_?”

“I don't know how long it's been since I checked at Luna," River told her Mum, and pulled the stachel from her shoulder. Retrieving a medi-scanner, she extended her arm, and a green grid fanned over her body. She handed it to Amy, who only blinked.

"I can't read this," Amy said, showing her the screen of information in another language.

"Sorry," River mumbled, “That’s 51st century english," She smirked lightly, "You've been away from the Tardis too long I guess," River huffed, and fidgeted with it. She donned a sudden scowl, "This thing is useless!"

Amy took the gadget, and turned it over. She was happy to see that River had changed the language back to some good ole legible 21st century script. On it's screen were schematics for both Timelord Deliveries and Human Deliveries. Reading them to herself, Amy frowned when she noticed that River's scan matched up a little to both, having a mixed experience stemming from both species.

There was information about Timelord babies not having the same risks as humans, and at the same time, different dangers. She read something about critical infant double heart failure and premature regeneration and other things that made her head spin with fear of the unknown... or not knowing enough.

Rory skidded around a turn, coming at a large building with an oddly shaped round roof and huge beams around the side. "Torchwood Institute," Rory announced, "Amy, see if you still have Dr. Jones's number!" He called over his shoulder as he drove right through the gate, cracking the windshield and denting the bumper, setting off a shit-ton of alarms, and he just kept driving, ignoring the red laser dots of trained gunmen on the hood of the moving car.

"I don't think I do..." Amy answered, pulling her phone from her pocket and scrolled through her contacts.

"Martha Jones???" River seemed confused, "How do you know her? You never crossed paths!"

"Lets just say your mother knows her," Rory coughed, and he pulled into the awning, the car coming to a screeching stop, "In a way, you do too!"

"Time to go, Melody!" Amy said, helping her daughter out of the back seat, and she held her up once she was outside, the cold, December Christmas Eve wind biting at their ears. Gunmen met them, but stared, confused as they saw River. 

"Who are you? State your name, rank, and intention!" Someone said over loudspeakers.

Amy glared forward, "Amelia Pond Williams, The mother-in-law of the Doctor, the protection of my grandchild!"

The agents blinked, and some lowered their weapons. A woman came out, looking over the trio. "Mother-in-law to the Doctor?"

"Thats me!" Amy said, and River moaned against her shoulder.

"And this is..." the woman waved her hand towards River.

"My daughter," Amy answered, frustrated, "We need to see Dr. Jones immediately if she’s still here."

“This is not a hospital, for god’s sake! Take her somewhere else,” Someone ordered.

“Listen, you lousy lot, Since you won’t listen to us, maybe knowing that this is the Doctor’s wife will knock some sense into you! Unless you want him very cross with you, I’d take her in!” Rory exclaimed, earning the momentary silence before he added, “My daughter needs a safe place, now!”

"But you two look the same age..." a soldier observed.

"The timelines are messed up. It happens when you're married to the Doctor," River growled, and the woman who seemed to be giving orders nodded, and spoke into a radio, paging Dr. Jones.

"First we must disarm you, Then we can discuss what you need from us," A guard stepped forward, and reached for the blaster.

"Absolutely not," River gave him a look that could kill, "Just give me a place to sit down! I'm not having this baby in a foyer while you whine about the logistics!"

"She needs a bed and a sterile room!" Rory said, and stepped forward, drawing his sword, pointing it at the man, "For the last time!"

"What's going on?!?!?" Martha Jones herself ran around a corner, still putting on her latex gloves. “You’re lucky I haven’t gone home yet! It’s Christmas Eve, for God’s sake!”

River lifted her head, "Martha, I need a place..."

Martha turned to the blonde woman in charge, "I know you're worried about people just charging into your lobby, but have you ever worked with the Doctor? Well, He's brilliant. He'll either help you or he'll wipe you from existence. If this is really his child, do you really want to risk his wrath or even the baby falling into wrong hands? How long do you really think you'd stand up against him? Or his child?" Martha leaned closer and closer, until the woman was thoroughly intimidated.

"No, Ma'am."

Martha looked River over, and then turned to the captain, "You should have taken her to the med bay!"

"Yes, Ma'am," The first woman nodded with shame.

Someone brought a wheelchair, and sat River down into it. Rory sheathed his sword and took the handles, following Martha. As Dr. Jones ran beside them guiding the way, she introduced herself. "I'm Martha Jones. I'm assuming you were companions of the Doctor?"

"This is my daughter, she's his wife." Amy told her, relieved that this woman didn't have to ask to understand how time was not quite linear for them.

"Lucky woman," Martha commented, turning corner after corner. As she burst through the plastic curtains, she called for nurses and certain medical things that Amy mostly tuned out as she focused on her daughter. Martha worked quickly, attaching a heart monitor to River's finger and getting an IV ready. "You're regenerating… I didn’t know there were other Timelords!”

“She was exposed to the vortex at a very young age. It’s complicated,” Amy tried to help.

“I’m not regenerating,” River said.

“Then it must be something to do with the baby," Martha mumbled as she poked the needle under the woman's skin for a second time and it immediately glowed again, pushing the IV back out. Sighing, Martha asked, "Are you able to semi-control it like your husband? If so, please let me hook you up."

River nodded, and her hand made a fist, which even though wasn't ideal, (IV's needed a relaxed arm to be administered) Martha certainly did prefer it over not being able to hook her up at all. Martha was able to finally get the needle under her skin and into a decent vein.

"Where do I scrub up?" Rory asked.

"You’re a doctor?" Martha inquired.

"Nurse," Rory corrected, and nodded when Martha told him the scrub sink was down the hall to the left.

"Let’s get you checked out," Martha said as River was moved to a hospital bed, a nurse hooking a 0.9% saline Fluids bag for her dehydration to her IV. Martha took a look at the heart rate monitor, and sighed. "Go get me a second Heart monitor! Get a third for the baby!" She called out. Someone disappeared down the hall. 

"How can I help?" Amy asked.

"Ever been a Doula?" Martha asked quickly, and Amy shook her head. "Just comfort her. Keep her grounded. I need to ask her some questions."

"Got it," Amy said.

Martha began hooking up the second heart monitor, then the weird one that looked like a belly-band with cords all over it. "Now, What's your name?"

"Professor Song. Melody. River. Whichever one you wish." The labouring woman answered.

"Okay, River. May I call you River?" Martha waited for the woman to nod. "Well, it appears that you are a little late for an epidural, so I don't think I can't do too much for the pain. But I do need to know a few things, okay?" Martha began removing River's pants and kickers, placing them beside her coat. She handed her a hospital gown, then reached for the Archeologist's shirt, but River wrapped her arms around it in disagreement.

"It's his. The only thing that fits me now," River breathed slowly, wincing. Amy brushed blonde curls from her eyes.

"Okay then. I think we can leave it. Can you at least unbutton it first?" Martha was obviously relieved when River complied. "Okay, what do you know about your baby?"

"Timelord. Two hearts. At least three fourths if not more -uhh..." River bit down, her hands reaching once again for her mother's. When the contractions passed, she finished. "C-section is not an option. The regeneration is too quick."

Martha winced at the news of a potential option being scratched off. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "How did your mother know me?"

"You delivered her," Amy answered. "Mind-wiping aliens took you to me since you were the only doctor who had ever worked with Timelord biology." Amy told her, and Martha blinked.

"Well." Martha was shocked, "Wacky stuff happens when you associate with the Doctor," Martha took something from the cart. She held up a little syringe. "This is a form of mild, low dosage Tocolytics. It may help slow your contractions if need be. Is that okay?" Martha asked in a calm voice. Rory returned, now in blue scrubs, looking a bit uncomfortable, as they were a little small. 

River nodded vigorously, and Martha hooked it up to her IV, pushing the medication into her veins. Rory stepped in.

"So you're getting Tocolytics, huh?" He began to speak in a calm voice, "When I was a Roman, they made us learn greek..." he took River's free hand, " _Tocolytics._ That word comes from ancient greek. It's from the words, _'tókos'_ , which means _childbirth_ , and _'lúsis'_ , which means _loosening_." He said, letting River focus on him while Martha worked her legs into position.

"May I check your dilation?" Martha asked, and River consented. A moment later, she stood up. "It's gonna be go-time pretty soon."

"You hear that? You're gonna meet your... you said _'she'_ earlier, right?" Amy said, "You're gonna meet your princess soon."

"Quite the little Princess of the Universe, that one," Rory snorted.

“With the amount of Planets that your husband has been crowned king or President of against his will, I have to agree with that particular statement!” Martha laughed.

“My daughter, a _queen_ ,” Amy smiled, smoothing River’s hair.

River moaned in response. 

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

About an hour later, the three Ponds were still only three. Pond Number Four seemed content where she was, and River was about ready to cut herself open with her own bare hands if things didn’t hurry along.

Martha was in the room, refusing to miss a single thing. Every now and then, she'd make small talk with Amy, comparing adventures with the Doctor like, _"Oh, well, King Henry the Eighth fell in love with me-" "Ma'am, that's nothing, Shakespeare fell in love with me and wrote me a sonnet!"_ And such other comments. Occasionally, Martha would ask to check River's dilation, until finally, _finally,_ it was almost time.

Martha had taken and ran with the idea that River was instantaneously healing, asking if the ability would stick around after the child left her body, or if she would lose it directly after birth. Martha talked about tearing, hemorrhages and placenta ruptures no longer a threat, and more things Amy never knew could threaten an expecting mother. She wondered how there were so many people on the planet with Humanity itself living with such high stakes against it's very existence, since even before day one.

River of course wasn’t very interested in such conversations surrounding theorization of her pregnancy, and rather sat back and eat ice chips while the others talked and planned and laughed. 

“I think it’s go-time, Mrs Doctor,” Martha smiled after checking her dilation a couple hours later, and helped River move her thighs, bending the knees so that she could work between her legs.

With the support of Rory and Amy, River began to push, her breathing intensifying before relaxing for a moment, then shattered by the force of her body working. It was backbreaking work, each second drawn out, reevaluating River’s definition of each single moment. Her parents cheered her on, giving encouragement and updates, Amy happily proclaiming that she was crowning.

Not that River hadn’t noticed the fire in her was burning and everything stretched around and pulled and pushed to allow her baby to leave her body. “Keep going, Mels!” Amy said, “The head’s almost out!”

The weirdest part was something River hadn’t really thought of when she’d wondered what labour would feel like. She could _feel_ the child distinctly, apart from the pain and the shooting burning, her baby was a definite form against her insides. 

She delivered the head with a baring push, and she knew when the shoulders followed. Martha was working with her, adjusting the child so that one shoulder was out, and River leaned forward with the effort, Martha gently working the other side out. “It’s home run from here, you can do it!”

River wasn’t sure she had the ability to continue in her. Every drop of energy was seeped from her very bones, and her mind was addled and processed nothing but the desire to get this over with and never have to do it again. She was tempted to tell Martha to just pull the child out, but she had to finish it on her own. If her mother could do it, then so could the legendary River Song.

Teeth aching from clenching, fists gripping her mother and father’s hands, eyes shut and back arched against the force, River gave her final effort, and her enemy-less battle was on the verge of victory.


	7. Still Waters Run Deep

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "What are you doing exactly?" Mercy asked, "You still haven't told me."
> 
> The Doctor looked up, his grin falling as he suddenly solemn, "I once burned a star to say goodbye. Now I'm burning a star to say hello."

"Wait," The Doctor said, making Mercy jump. "I have to do something!"

"What?" Mercy asked, glancing back to the spot River had been standing a mere second ago. The faint golden light died from her hands, and she lowered them away from her father's head.  The Doctor ran into the Tardis. Mercy followed. He was talking incoherently to himself, trying to do the math. He's done something like this before. Well, sort of... Not really, but if he does the math and he knows his Quantum Time and Theoretical Physics, he might make this work.

"What are you doing? You have to forget me, the pregnancy, all of it!" Mercy called after him. The Doctor ignored her.

"I've never frozen a moment before... It's just a theory... But I think with the right star, It should work. I need a big one... Plenty of mass..."

Mercy was confused, but tried to chip in, "UY Scuti?"

"Big, but not enough mass."

"What about a really dense one?" Mercy piped up.

" _Jay-Zero-seven-four-zero-plus-six-six-two-zero?_ " The Doctor rattled off, shaking his head, much to the shock of Mercy, "No, that one’s dense, but it won't do... Not enough Pa- _Zow!_ Did you know the locals called it The God of Fiery Death? Ironic because it was a neutron star... On the lower scale of heat in the star of this universe..." The Doctor rambled, still working furiously.

"You need a hot star?" Mercy asked. "If you're trying to power something, get something nuclear."

"Yes!!!! Oh _Yes!_ Lot's and lots and lots of electromagnetic waves and light and heat! Ohhhh and that just might do it!" He waved his fingers around, "You're brilliant!"

"What are you doing exactly?" Mercy asked, "You still haven't told me."

The Doctor looked up, his grin falling as he suddenly solemn, "I once burned a star to say goodbye. Now I'm burning a star to say hello."

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—• 

The Tardis spun around the supernova, sucking the energy up like the universe's hungriest star-eating vacuum.

Mercy stared out the door at the blazing light. She'd changed out of her skirt and into brown jodhpurs and a green shirt tied by River’s brown belt she loved so much.

The Doctor stared at her silhouette. His daughter. This girl was his and River's. Half him. Half River. In a way, she was all her mother in appearance. Yet inside that head of her's dwelt the mind of her father. He could see the echo of her mother's nose and his stupid chin and Riv's eyebrows and his big floppy ears River had so loved to tease him about. Oh he could only imagine how surprised she was when Little Mercy popped out with elephant ears like him. He smiled at the imaginary reaction. He started pinpointing similarities... Amy's flaming hair and River's curls. His posture and Rory's glare. Amy's adorable _I'm really grumpy_ stance and if he looked close enough, Mel's body build.

She had his hands. Not quite as manly, no. But nimble like her mother, thin and long like his. He tried to brand the image of her face into his mind. He hardly knew her, but he'd die for her in an instant. He wonders how many times he's met her already and didn't even know it. For all he knew, any one of his past faces could have bumped into her or even spoke with her. Perhaps she'd have different faces as well, someday. She was enough of a Timelord to regenerate, right? A small part of him mourned the day she lost her resemblance to her Mother and Father, and lived life again through another form. 

She'd mentioned graduating at Luna University at a young age. Her Timelady mind was strong and smart as a whip. He'd like to think that she'd run the universe if she desired.

The Doctor heard the Tardis whirr as it made it's inter-spacial connection with the Supernova, and he unfolded his arms and took his feet down off the railings. "Time to go, Mercy!" He called, and the girl turned back around, grinning.

"Mum took me to see a supernova once. She stole the ole' Tardis. Or really, the Tardis stole us. You never even knew it was gone..." Mercy skipped steps up the stairs as she came to the console.

"Now the hard part..." The Doctor spun dials and pulled levers, allowing the Tardis to do the rest. "You _are_ telepathic, yes?"

She reached over with her right hand and touched his temple with her first two fingers, _"Well, obviously,"_ She whispered into his mind with a grin on her face. He couldn’t stop the burst of pride that grew in him.

"Good! Well, let's get you hooked up to the Tardis here, and She'll read your telepathic link to your Mum, and where your consciousnesses were first separated." The Doctor said, pulling a panel away from the side of the glass shaft that covered the vortex drive.

"What? _Seperated?_ "

"You know what l _ooming_ is, right?” The Doctor waited before Mercy nodded. “I was loomed. Built by who I’d consider my parents. Looming is the quick and easy way to have a child, even though gestation is perfectly possible for Timelords,” He added.

The Doctor paused, taking a deep breath to explain his idea. “Timelords that are actually carried by mothers are born from their mother's consciousness just as they are born from their mother's body. The child and it's mind are still a fresh, clean slate, under-developed and new, but they share an instant connection in their consciousness. Once you separate and end the physical connection that is required for Timelord telepathy, a baby Timelord experiences it's first moment severed from the constant consciousness of its mother it's known its whole life."

Mercy blinked, "You said the word _'Consciousness'_ more than I could comprehend. Why is this important? I'm tired. I'm not here for a biology lesson."

_'Brilliant, but unappreciative,'_ The Doctor thought to himself, "Fine. Once a Timelord baby no longer touches it's mother, their telepathic link is severed and it becomes mentally independent for the first time. This is what the Tardis will follow."

"And what are you going to do there?" Mercy folded her arms. The Gallifreyan message was still on her wrist, continuing to jar him back to reality.

He smiled at her, "Like I said earlier; say hello."

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—• 

The Doctor stepped out of the Tardis and cheered. Mercy poked her head out behind him, but he put his hand out to hold her back, "The Tardis is doing enough as it is to worry about a paradox," He said, and Mercy nodded.

"Why is everyone- You froze a moment!" Mercy's mouth dropped open.

"More like a moment between seconds," The Doctor grinned, spinning around the frozen people and things, "But close enough! If Time were actually stopped, I wouldn't be able to see. Because, you know, Light has to travel through space too..."

"I'll have you know I  _ did _ pass advanced physics and Chemistry Class..." Mercy called after him. He followed the general rush of things, from the dim, fluorescent light to the wave of a nurse running to a room.

He stopped when he looked inside. Memories hit him like a rush. Martha. Martha Jones! So grown up and amazing as always. She stood, holding a child nestled in a now soiled white blanket toward its mother. The newborn, seconds old, covered in blood and white goop and slimy stuff. "You look like a grub!" He laughed, yelling back to Mercy, who responded with a very offended, " _ HEY! _ "

And River,  _ Oh River! _ She almost seemed to glow. In fact, he fully believed that she was. River shone softly with golden light that made her beautiful, so beautiful, as she was mid-cry, reaching desperately for the child which was still attached to her via the cord. There was blood on the sheets and on her skin and River's hair was matted to her forehead and neck in wet ringlets, sweat on her brow, her lips parted as she saw their baby for the first time. Her eyes were shining with more love than the universe itself could hold. She was ethereal.

Amy wore a sterile apron as she stood to the side. She held a pair of clamps and scissors that were held ready for Martha. Rory was staring at his granddaughter in awe, and the Doctor smiled at the Roman keeping a hand on his sword, ready to defend at a moment’s notice, the other empty and bruising from where The Doctor’s wife had gripped it seconds before.

The baby was beautiful in it's own, unique way. He stared, and his own love was blossoming in his chest like a hurricane, crashing through every coherent thought, rushing over him in a tidal wave no man could ever dream of fighting. He never knew a man could fall in love so fast. It was like the first time he became a father. He remembered his other, fully timelord children, born of timeladies who were locked away in that pocket universe on that long forgotten planet of Gallifrey. They lived, buried in his heart, just as they would for the rest of his life. But this one, so new and so innocent, she brought something so much more to his life that he could ever fathom.

She was a product of love. Her life was made from the substance of He and River’s devotion to the other; the forbidden, formerly unintended promise that both knew couldn’t be kept forever. A timeless dance of intimacy and their proclivital destinies had resulted in this child; _their child_. She was a new promise; one of life and new beginnings. She was perfect.

The Doctor was an old man. A vast, long life lead to thousands of unrecountable memories sorted into categories that were placed into _'before this event, after that event'_. Now he knew that there was one more. _Before Mercy, After Mercy._ In a bold move, he leaned down and kissed his wife's forehead, letting his lips linger for maybe a second too long. When he stood again, he moved toward the baby in tiny steps. "Little Mercy Song. What a big miracle you are," He whispered, leaning down to kiss his daughter in like fashion.

When he was finally able to force himself away, he placed his hands in his pockets to hide the fists forming against his will and push away the threatening tears. His hand clamped around something small and cold and metallic. Drawing it out, he knew it was a gift from his Tardis. Turning back around, the Doctor reached out and slid it beside the baby in reach of it's hand. A sonic screwdriver, worthy of any child of his, gold and a lavender opalescent grip with silver rings around it, a crystal to buzz blue and on it's side, a name, written in high gallifreyan, the language of ancient kings; _Mercy Song_.

"You really are loved by my Tardis," He smiled. Finally pulling himself back _to_ said Tardis, he was met by the much older Mercy, who closed the door behind him. He collapsed to the floor.

She went to the console, working the gears for him in a graceful sweep of motion that he couldn't catch. Mercy was a natural, and he could imagine the Tardis guiding her, teaching her as a child to fly and instruct her, working with the stubborn spirit and giving her every lesson on space travel she could ever need. Not that the Tardis could speak, fair say, but she could certainly choose her favorites.

Mercy squatted next to him.

"Are you raised happy?" He begs for an answer. Mercy turns away, and sighs. She seems to try to think of an answer, but has none to satisfy his questioning.

"Happy? Yes. Safe? Well, not really," She told him.

The Doctor stared at her. He was silent. He had an idea. A terribly risky, unholy idea. "Time can be rewritten. Time can be rewritten!"

"Father, No! I- my birth- it's a fixed point! You can't raise me! I have to be alone! You know what happens if you try. My Mum tried. She tried so hard!" Mercy was begging him, pleading, tearing at his sleeve to hold him back. "I have to be alone."

"I can't leave you two!"

"Father. _Listen_." She spun him around, ducking so she could look up at him and his lowered eyes. "I'm alone, yes. But I always knew you loved me. You told me, remember? You told me I was not alone. That I was never alone. I always knew that if the time came, you would move the stars themselves to get to me and my Mum," She was quieter now, voice hushed. "You have to do things, go places, take risks that you never would take if you hoped to come back to me and Mum."

"Then make it quick."

She knew what he meant. She pulled out a sonic screwdriver. Just like the one he gave the child. The lavender one with gold and silver and her name. It was beat up. Used and loved. "The Tardis knew what she was doing when she made this. There is a neural relay chip in here. I can transport memories into it to be stored. I'm going to do that now."

"They can be returned, right?" He needed to be reassured.

Mercy smiled, "What's the point of storing something if you can't ever use it again?" She paused, "Someday. Someday you will."

Hands trembling, Mercy raised her arms and her fingertips glowed gold.

"One more question... Why _Maelstrom_? Of all the names..." The Doctor closed his eyes.

Mercy laughed, "Grandmum had a cool water name. Mum had a cool water name. I wanted a cool water name."

The Doctor laughed with her, and his eyes closed again, locking away the face of his daughter for an undetermined forever.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—• 

When the Doctor opened his eyes, he was faced with a strange girl with curly strawberry blonde and red hair staring at him. "Who are you? What?!?! How did you get into my Tardis?"

A single tear fell down the girl's face.


	8. Sink or Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor finds a loophole to the unavoidable future

River gasped, and with a final push, she knew she’d finished. Martha exclaimed, "It's a girl!" And quickly turned the child on it's side between her legs, cleaning it off, and wrapping it in a white towel as a weak shriek escaped from it's lungs.

"Atta girl!" Amy grinned, leaning closer.

River's pain dulled away as she glowed faintly, healing quickly. A squeaking baby was held out to her, and she took the babe with outstretched, desperate arms. Martha set her down on River's bare chest, letting the touch of her mother calm the child. "Hello, Little one," She breathed, "I've waited so long to meet you..." She reached her finger tips to brush over the baby's red, screaming face. 

She stared. How could something so small and so weak be so precious? She was an archeologist, and spotting value was her second nature. But what she saw on that little face was a love that could outweigh all of time and space. The baby was perfect. Her child. Her baby girl. Her daughter! So small and so beautiful. River pressed a kiss to the baby's forehead. 

"Can I look her over?" Martha stepped in, reaching out her hands.

River's eyes were torn from her baby to the woman, whom she frowned at. "She's breathing. Is that not enough?"

"I need to weigh and measure her. Check her lungs and hearts and all that," Martha said, "I'm no OB, but I think I can do what needs to be done."

River held her fingertips to her daughter's warm chest, "Feels like both hearts are beating to me. I think She's fine."

Amy put a hand on River's shoulder, "I'll stand right by her every step of the way. You stay here." River stared up at her, and after a moment, held the baby back for a single kiss. Martha narrated every little detail, and Amelia kept her promise, a hand out to the child at every step.

As Martha lifted the babe away, Amy cut the cord and clamped it with Rory's instruction. 

The agonizing, terrifying seconds of her daughter's absence were crucifying for the new mother. River had been raised in an environment where anxiety had been a weakness and a character feature to be ashamed of. But after nine months of stressing about her child being taken from her the way she was taken from Amy and Rory, River was freaking out. Amy knew that River trusted Martha, but the only thing that kept the blonde grounded was her hand on her blaster and knowing that Amy's hands hovered over her baby. Amelia looked between the baby and her daughter, trying to signal Rory to keep Melody from having a panic attack.

River was so distraught that every movement in her vision was tricking her into seeing Silence. Amy knew what it was like, The swollen heads and abyssal eyes bearing into her from every corner, waiting for the perfect moment to take her child and beat her down again. Just knowing that the Silence knew of her pregnancy, in turn meaning that Kovarian knew there was a child left her more terrified. And River was never terrified.

Rory finally got the hint and suddenly invaded River's vision. "Melody, Melody!" He said, grabbing her face, forcing her to focus. River stared up at her father. Amy could see the terror in her eyes.

"Look, Melody, There's no one here but us. Torchwood is on lockdown like Amy asked. There are guards posted and orders to shoot on sight. Remember what the Doctor said? He made a barrier for the facility so that vortex manipulators can't get in or out. Kovarian isn't here. She can't get here. Look, I have a sword." Rory unsheathed the weapon, and held it out to his daughter. 

River nodded and Rory seemed to be distracting her well enough for Martha to finish up. As Dr Jones rolled the child on its side, she looked confused.

"What's this?" She held up what Amy could only guess was a sonic screwdriver.

"What's wrong?" River tore away from her father.

"Nothing. Nothing is wrong!" Martha said, trying to deescalate River's panic.

" It's a screwdriver, Melody. A Sonic Screwdriver," Amy picked it up. The child waved its arms.

"Well that certainly didn't come out of you," Rory observed.

"What?" Martha was taken aback, "I don't think It's his, either." She looked over Amy's shoulder as she wrapped the baby back into it's blanket, and turned around so River could see that she was coming back.

"It's  _ hers _ ..." Amy turned it over. "It has a name... Mercy Song," She whispered the words softly. It flowed beautifully.

" _ Mercy. _ " River said, "We all need a bit of mercy," She alluded. River took her baby back, looking down. "I met her," She told Amy, “I know her.” The new mother laughed. All those years, never once guessing who she was… 

" Huh?" Amy was perplexed, "What do you mean?"

"She's the one who helped me get to you. My Mercy. Little Mercy all grown up," She was hardly speaking, quiet enough that Amy had to strain to hear her words, “She knew me all along…”

"You met her when she was all grown up?" Rory asked.

"Yes," River nodded, her hands touching her baby's face, counting her tiny fingers. "I knew her for years and never knew who she was," River smiled. "No wonder she was -will be?- such a good student." the woman’s face drew near her daughter’s, and in a softer, lighter voice, whispered, “You’re gonna be an archaeologist someday, just like your Mum.”

Amy looked at the screwdriver in her hands, turning it over between her fingers. "I believe this is her's," She said.

River looked up at the Sonic. It was gold and coated in lavender marble siding with silver rings around it, a blue synthesized crystal in the top, and on the side in a fancy script,  _ Mercy Song. _

"It's in old high Gallifreyan," River noticed. "How did you know it?"

"It's english...?" Amy said.

The blonde’s eyebrows furrowed and she took an angry breath, "That bastard!" River said, "He was here! That Damned Doctor was here!"

"What? No, we never saw him!"

"He must have frozen time or something. Stepped in for only a second. Still plenty of time for us to be exposed to the Telepathic Tardis Translation matrix so that you can read and understand, and now this appears!" She waved the sonic. 

"Melody, this is a long stretch. Maybe I just wasn't concentrating well enough on the ride here." Amy said, trying to rationalize this.

"Well then where did the sonic come from? Dad made a point. It didn't come from me!" Melody was hugging her child as close as she could.

Martha suddenly interrupted. "While this is a very relevant, important conversation, I'm going to need to direct you through delivering the placenta, okay River?" 

Melody nodded and Martha began her work, which took all of about five minutes of careful massaging and prodding of her undeflated middle. Pressure built up again, but this time, duller and less agonizing. Something inside told her when to push again, until a similar feeling of something passing through her ended with a plop, and a heat between her legs that was collected by Dr Jones and taken away.

Just as Martha sent the delivered organ to be incinerated, a guard came running in, panting. "Sorry. I tried, but he's not listening and we couldn't stop him!" The man collapsed from exhaustion, and suddenly a voice Amy hadn't heard in almost a year hit her like a ton of bricks.

"Honey, I'm home."

River fell back onto the bed from where she had been sitting up. "And what sort of time do you call this?"

The Doctor himself came in, leaning on the doorframe. "I'm not late, am I?"

Amy ran at him, her attempt at pushing him out futile. "You're not supposed to be here!"

The Doctor grinned. "It's okay, Amy. The Tardis is working this out. I told you time could be rewritten!"

"What did you do?" River worriedly begged for an answer.

"Well, before older Mercy took my memories, I had rerouted her neuro-relay to the Tardis Matrix instead. I, of course, didn't remember that until a few hundred years later on Trenzalore, when the Tardis was breaking down and the core finally released them. I got my memories back and saved the universe!" The Doctor spun around, and waltzed over to his wife.

"This isn't how the timeline goes." River reminded him, with a stone-faced warning.

"It can be now! River, It's okay! I can sustain it!" He exclaimed, "Mercy only told me so much... so not everything is set in stone."

"And what's that, exactly?" River said. The Doctor stumbled over his words, avoiding the question, which River then repeated.

He sighed, and sat down beside his wife, leaning over to look at the child. "She was happy. Though not safe. I can't help raise her..."

Amy racked her brain for a solution. "At what point do Timelords begin to make lasting memories as children?"

The Doctor Paused. "Five months. Five months and then they can recognize parents in memories."

"Then you have five months." Rory said. "Then you have to forget her again."

The Doctor's face fell. "But only her birth is a fixed point!"

"Only  _ some _ time can be rewritten. Not a whole lifetime," River whispered.

The room was silent. The baby mewled and regained the company's attention. Martha spoke softly, "It's always the blondes for you, isn't it?" She smiled.

The Doctor smirked, "Only ever made one of them my wife." 

"And only one was ever his daughter," Amy added, her thumb stroking the fine hair that adorned her granddaughter’s head. River bit her lip. (Jenny didn't count, in her opinion)

The Doctor took a breath in contradiction, "Actually she had reddish hair, remember?" He tilted his head, suddenly realizing something important, "We made a ginger! We made a ginger, Riv!" The Doctor mumbled something about his daughter getting to be ginger before him.

Amy folded her arms in pride, "She _definitely_ got that from me." River offered the father his baby. When the Doctor held his daughter for the first time, he cried. Not because he was proud. Not because she was perfect. He cried because he would only have the littlest amount of time with her. It was Day One of only five months. Day 1 of about 152 days. Hour 1 of 3648 hours...

He knew his time was already ticking.


	9. Down The Drain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Madame Kovarian finds out she has a second chance to perfect an even better opportunity for her revenge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit of non-canon sci-fi vocabulary:
> 
> \- Kleptoneasion fusion barrier/vortex shield: A forcefield that delays time for half a second to displace the inside from the outside world just enough to prevent travel through. Variations of the technology is usually used by stage-seven civilizations to isolate wars or protect themselves.
> 
> \- Space-lock: A device that prevents any form of energy or matter from passing through an electromagnetic field. Usually used to protect valuables.
> 
> \- the "disk": A shilling-sized piece of tech that suspends a force field around itself and the closest direct object/living organism and is capable of teleporting itself and the object short distances. Can be pre-programmed or remote controlled. Usually used in forensic work.

"She's  _ WHAT _ ?" The woman bolted upright from her seat, staring at the monster before her.

"It appears....." The Silence hissed, "That _Little Melody_ has become a _Mother_..."

"How? We sterilized her at birth!" Kovarian's hands rubbed her temples. "She must have regained reproductive abilities after her regenerations..." The curly-haired villain slammed her hands down on the table.

"She has birthed a single child in Torchwood, in 2010 on Earth. We lost three of us to her. The two scouts in the Pond Home are dead. Several were shot outside of Torchwood facilities. Their manipulator shield is working and we can't get inside."

Kovarian considered her options. It was one thing to raise a psychopath child of your worst enemy's best friend to kill said enemy... but now there was another pawn in play. What if her Psychopath's child _and_ the child of her worst enemy were to complete the work their mother failed at? Oh. Now THAT was a plan.

It seemed that her first trial failed, but oh... now that she had all their data, she could create the most effective assassin the Universe had ever seen.

"Get everyone and everything. We're fighting our way in," Kovarian said.

  * —•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•



Kovarian stood with her army of Silence outside of the guarded facility. "Deploy the vortex shield," She ordered, and the monster beside her nodded, relaying the message. Within seconds, the device was fired, shooting like a rocket up and over the gates and into the sky over the buildings. It froze, disappearing for a second before blasting back into view, a purple energy field unfolding over the whole place like a rolled up curtain until it reached the ground in a dome that locked everything -including the Silence army- in. It was like a forcefield, but it messed with time just enough to offset the inside forward a few milliseconds, just enough to make passage back through virtually impossible. There wasn’t much that could keep a Tardis captive, but a vortex shield, paired with a Kleptoneasion fusion barrier, could. 

"Lets just hope he doesn't notice till it's too late," Kovarian purred, and Torchwood's gunmen on the gates finally got the jist that someone was out there, as everyone inside was unable to distinguish _what_ , and only that there was _something_. The Silence's memory protection would have to serve them for just a little while longer...

As the electricity drained from the power lines around them, Silence sucked the energy, using it to blast gunman after gunman on their fight to get to the protected building.

"We have their security feeds..." A Silence cackled, handing her a device, the view of the disgusting little family on the screen in one frame, the adjoining hallway in another, and the third and fourth displaying the Corner of the Doctor's wretched time machine and some Guards.

"So you have their exact location?" Kovarian smiled, and lifted her wrist, typing the exact coordinates into the Manipulator to be ready the exact second she got inside Torchwood's Vortex Shield.

"He has his Tardis," the clicking voice said behind her.

"Well, make sure the communication goes down. If they don't know we're here, they can't run, can they?" Kovarian smiled, "you get another chance at your goal with this one."

"Yessss," The Silence replied, it's indented mouth sucking at the air, "The Doctor will never again plague this universe..."

Kovarian sneered at the screen, and turned on the audio, immediately bombarded with the sickly sweet conversation all about how happy they were, something about five months, red hair, and fixed points.

Finally they made it into the building and past the Vortex shield, two Silence placed their hands on Kovarian's shoulders as she hit the button on her vortex manipulator, sparking in and out of space within a mere blink. She turned around, looking up. "Nicely done, if I do say so myself," She smiled and waved at the security camera.

Suddenly, the horrendous shape of a headless Monk shone in the shadows from the hall, and Kovarian gasped, "Oh no you don't." The Monk was singing in it's holy language, and Kovarian closed her eyes in anger. So much for the element of surprise. If there was one Monk, then there were always more, and they didn't look like they were interested in being allies this time around.

To the left, the doorway was immediately filled with the faces of River's Parents, who's eyes grew the second they saw her. "Doctor!" Amy yelled, and the Monk caught up, raising it's sword to slash down on the redhead and her husband, but the blade was caught by Rory's own weapon as Amy ducked. The former Centurion easily struck down the Monk before he spotted Kovarian.

"I thought I defeated you lot!" The Doctor said as he stepped into the hall. 

"Doctor, she's here," Amy gulped and pointed toward Kovarian, who rushed forward.

"I'm sorry, Kovarian, but there are no more tricks for you to play," The Doctor waltzed over to her, staring her straight in the eyes. "I suppose those Silence were yours too? -Yeah I noticed the marks on Amy's wrist there- but for once, there's no games. I got the child first, and that's the truth of the matter." He got close enough that the dark haired woman could feel his breath on her cheeks, "If you even dare to lift a _finger_ against my child, I will become the man you claim I am; and you will pay heavily for it. Do you understand?"

Kovarian just grinned, "You really just don't understand, do you, Doctor? I don't fear you and your weightless threats." She turned her head to the Silence that she knew stood behind her, "Get the Child at whatever cost," She ordered.

"Amy! Rory! Get River to the Tardis _NOW!_ " The Doctor wheeled around and ran back into the Medbay room. "She won't let anything in!"

Monks appeared in the hall, their song rising in anger at the sight of their fallen comrade. "Oh come now, let's not fight. We both want the child!" Kovarian told them, and Torchwood Facilities fell into a code black lockdown. Security rushed in, and a man ran right past the Silence and pointed a gun at Kovarian's head, not fearing for his life in the least.

"Get him," Kovarian sighed, and several of the Silence in the room surrounded him, channeling electricity through themselves to kill the audacious man. The Room smelled of ozone and the man jerked with the spasms of so many volts traveling through him. He still stood, and the people behind him took it as an opportunity to begin shooting at the attacking Silence. The man fought his way back up, hair and clothes singed, a grin on his face. 

"My name is Captain Jack Harkness, and you're messing with the wrong family, sister," He said, and addressed the bodies on the floor as more Silence poured into the room.

"I'm afraid it doesn't matter, as this Kleptoneasion fusion barrier keeps any form of matter inside, and with the vortex shield, well, It's a siege. I wonder who's going to last the longest, hmmm?" Kovarian held up the pulsing device and took steps back into the room where the small family was halfway across the room to the Tardis. "What do you think, Melody?"

The woman in question was guarded by her pitifully valiant parents, Rory pointing his sword and Amy with Melody's blaster. The Doctor was supporting River, who clutched the desired bundle to her bare chest.

"If The tardis can't fly, then we have no way out," The Doctor worked.

"Give me my vortex manipulator, Mum!" Melody said to Amy.

"I left it in the car. I'm sorry!" Amy replied with a frustrated glare to Kovarian.

"It wouldn't work anyway!" The Doctor told them.

"Come, Melody... did I not teach you better than that? You know better than to be weak and naked in a warzone, much less have anything that could be used against you," Kovarian purred.

"Why are you here?" Amy said, eyes hard with hatred.

"Oh just visiting my friends! Congratulating my killing machine on _not_ completing her sole purpose in life," Kovarian paced. Monks filled the room, their red swords drawn.

"You can't win!" Jack yelled from the hall as his team shot at the Monks and Silence.

"Oh Jack!" The Doctor noticed his friend, "You're here!"

"Of course! When I heard you had teamed up with River to make more aliens, I hardly believed it! I had to see that for myself." Jack said, his voice raised over the crescendo of the Monks.

"Why does _every_ encounter with you always have small talk or flirting?" Kovarian sighed.

"Doctor, what do we do?" Rory whispered. Gunshots were fired in the halls.

Kovarian stepped up with a grin, "I can answer that! The way I see it, you can either give me the child and my Silence fight off these monks here, or you try and fight back and everyone gets slaughtered in the process, either way, the Monks or I leave with the baby. No matter the end game, the baby ends up another sociopath like it's mother... Your choice!" Madame Kovarian grinned.

"I am _not_ a sociopath," River growled.

"Melody, get Mercy onto the Tardis, we can hold them off," Amy said, backing up with slow steps to cover River.

"Oh it's a _girl!_ " Kovarian mocked, "Us women really _do_ make the history. Good choice on the gender, Little Melody," Kovarian smirked.

"Actually it's the male chromosome that decides the gender-" Rory corrected.

"Perhaps," Kovarian came closer, and with a quick movement, held Amy at Gunpoint, but dropping the Kleptoneasion fusion barrier in the process. "Drop the gun and sword or she's dead."

“Don’t you let them get her, Melody,” Amy gulped.

“We won’t,” River shook her head, and the two sides stood in stalemate, waiting for the other to crumple and act.

The Monks were far too close for comfort, only several feet away. Amy, River and Rory would never be able to fight off so many.

Amy made eye contact with her daughter and tossed the Alpha Meason gun to River as the blonde passed the child to its father, who was now holding both the screaming babe and a buzzing screwdriver. 

"We need to get this turned off so we can get out of here," River commented as she pointed the gun towards the Monks and Silence. 

Amy suddenly burst out, addressing her advancing enemies, "Oi! You lot! If you want the babe, you know you're going to have to fight over her later... so you might as well figure out who's leaving with her now, before it gets messy!" Amy said, in attempt to distract the warring groups. The Monks quieted and the Silence sparked with electricity as they stared between themselves. Kovarian rolled her eyes, “Oh, do shut it.”

Then the two enemies surged forward together. "You've had better ideas..." The Doctor sighed as the others engaged in battle and he tried to shield his daughter, occasionally pointing that stupid sonic at things as if he was "helping". At one point, Amy squirmed free, rejoining her fighting family.

Kovarian reached into her pocket and drew out her last resort. She threw a coin sized disk through the air, and it was just missed by River, landing to her left and popping with a loud buzz, encircling Mercy with a bright energy field. Madame Kovarian smiled, and she used the remote to tug at the energy ball that the Doctor was already trying to dismantle. "Not so fast, Sweetie!" Kovarian purred and the Doctor cried out in pain as the energy field burned his skin. He held onto the child anyway. 

Melody noticed her Husband's fight, shooting another Silence as she said, "Unless you want it to cut through your arms you need to figure something out!" River warned. Kovarian laughed.

"I'm trying!" He yelled, and Kovarian turned up the power.

"Put her in the Tardis and close the door!" Amy offered. The Doctor followed through. Kovarian shook her head at their stupidity. 

"You will never win, Melody," Kovarian tilted her head in a sinister stare, and raised her hand with the remote. With a little pop, the babe fell into her arms and the energy shield closed down, the disk landing in the baby's blanket. Kovarian flipped the switch on the Kleptoneasion fusion barrier, setting it to turn off for a mere second to allow her to escape.

"Don't you dare," The Doctor and Melody said in unison, and Kovarian just laughed. 

"I win, Sweetie," She said as she programmed her Vortex Manipulator.

Suddenly, A sharp pain emanated from Kovarian's backside as she lost feeling and crumpled, another person’s hands ripping the child from her grasp. "That's for the Doctor," A voice said behind her, and Kovarian looked up as she fell to the face of a Medical Doctor, blood on her white coat and a red stained scalpel in her free hand, the baby held against her quivering form. 

"So much for that _'do no harm'_ oath, Martha," Rory sighed.

"She was going to cause the death of thousands... I guess I just did _less_ harm," The woman said softly, dropping the scalpel in horror of her own actions.

"What are we going to do now?" Amy asked, and Kovarian whimpered through the pain.

"I just paralyzed someone..." This _Martha_ said.

"Yes, you did!" Kovarian pulled at her blaster, firing. "If I can't have the babe, then no one can!"

"Did it!" The Doctor said, and the disk, which had fallen to the ground, encased the group in purple energy. Kovarian's blasts ricocheted off the side. "I reverse programmed it!"

"What does that mean?" Amy asked, her arms covering Martha, taking back the child, then passing her back to her blonde, curly haired mother. 

"It means that we can't move, and this won't last long," The Doctor said. At those words, Madame Kovarian lost consciousness as she laid in a pool of her own blood, the Silence and Monks finding their priorities also laid out before them, encased in a very unstable energy shield.

All they would have to do is wait.


	10. Rinse and Repeat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mercy stuck her head into the Dalek shell, and then drew it out. She shone a flashlight into it, and hummed, “Hold this.” She produced a plastic bag from her belt, and River held it open for her. Mercy then reached in and scooped out globs of cooked Dalek, letting the goop drip into the baggie. “That’s gross,” Amy winced.
> 
> River closed up the ziplock when the girl was done, exclaiming, “That should be all of it!” River handed the baggie off to the Doctor, who held it with disdain. It was odd, seeing one of the universe's most dangerous beings reduced to slime stuck in a mickey mouse themed sandwich bag, but he’d rather that than alive any day. “Oh I like her,” Jack placed his hands on his hips.

Her worst nightmares were coming to life. Just as Kovarian had seemed to win again, Martha had come through, doing the dirty work for River. With Kovarian paralyzed and their little family trapped, they had to think of something fast. Mercy was screaming into her chest, wailing from the commotion. No child should have such a traumatic thing happen so young. Hopefully, all this would just dissolve into a blurry nightmare she’d never quite be able to remember or grasp.

"River, as soon as I get this down, I need you to get into the Tardis immediately," Her husband said, "This energy field won't hold forever, but if we can get behind the Tardis's shields, at least we'll be safe from bullets and blasts!"

River nodded vigorously. In front of her, River’s parents held hands, standing with no gap between them to protect the life none refused to give up. Martha was handing the Doctor everything in her pockets, hoping that they might contain something to help. Luckly, Amy had kicked the Kleptoneasion fusion barrier onto the inside, and she picked it up, passing it to the Doctor. “Think you could figure this out?” She asked.

His eyes lit up as he took it, looking it over, “Amelia Pond, I could bloody kiss you!”

“Woah there, raggedy man. You’re my son-in-law now! Things are a bit different,” Amy replied, and turned back around to River, holding her shoulders, “You doing alright? How’s Mercy?” She asked.

River looked up at her, tearing her eyes away from her baby, “Yeah, I got her.”

The Purple energy was getting thinner by the second, and Monks and Silence were closing in, ready to steal the child the second it was down. The Doctor worked while Martha held the Kleptoneasion fusion barrier, the buzzing of his sonic doubling it’s work to sustain the energy disk and figure out how to permanently disengage the  Kleptoneasion fusion barrier.

“Give us the child! You will be deleted!” A multitude of robotic voices said through the smoke, the metallic bodies coming through the door to join the struggle. Cybermen.

As they got closer and closer to exposure, the group of six were backed further and further against the Tardis, and River handed Amy her Tardis key, the redhead ready to unlock the doors the second the disk’s energy field failed.

As if on cue, a terribly American accent yelled over the commotion, “Just hold out a little longer!”

“Thank you, Jack!” The Doctor acknowledged, and worked frantically, River desperately trying to hush her daughter, and Amy and Rory’s free hands were clasped as they prepared to defend their family. Martha suddenly had an idea.

“What if we turned off the power completely? Rebooted the system?” Martha shouted, and The Doctor looked at her with wide eyes, a grin forming on his face.

“What,  _ turn it off then back on again _ ?” Amy simplified, and the three looked between each other before the Doctor reacted, grabbing the bloodied scalpel from Martha’s grasp and with careful hands pried off a panel from the barrier and he soniced it. As expected, the Tardis began to glow behind them as it was released from the time travel limiting tech, and Martha high-fived Amy.

“All of you, get in at the same time!” The Doctor snapped his fingers, and the door opened behind them. Dropping the disk, the Doctor stepped back, and Martha crushed it under the heel of her shoe. The Energy field went down, and they were under fire once again.

Once they were inside the Tardis’s shields, they were safe. The Doctor re-engaged the barrier, and the group could take a deep breath. “We aren’t quite done yet. Jack and all of Torchwood is still out there!”

“Anyone have any ideas?” Martha asked.

“We fight!” River said, eyebrows turned down and she handed Mercy to the Doctor, who took the baby, immediately trying to translate the screams that the girl was scared, but River cut him off, and she disappeared down the hall, returning within the moment with two guns and a 17th century rapier hanging from a belt she’d strapped on. 

“I think we are going to be friends,” Martha nodded to the blonde, taking one of the guns, cocking it with a loud click. 

“Are you sure that this-” 

“Yes!” Everyone interrupted the Doctor.

“We lost one baby a long time ago. We are NOT losing another,” Amy said.

“Okay. If you stay behind the shields you should be safe enou-” The Doctor advised, but Martha, River, Amy and Rory were already charging outside. River threw caution to the wind, leaving behind the protection of the ship and gunning down every monk and Silence she saw.

“Doctor! We have a problem!” Amy suddenly yelled, and a white beam of deadly light sailed over River’s shoulder.  _ Daleks. _

“Give us the Timelord child! Give us the child of the Doctor!” The metallic forms glided through the battle mist, their eyestalks glowing about them in frenzied search of their sworn enemy’s spawn. 

River’s mouth formed a hard line as she straightened up, standing tall about the battle that raged around her, all over one tiny baby she’d brought into existence. Jack ran past, knocking over a silence as electricity killed his heart, but it began beating again on it’s own as he fought. Monks engaged Rory in swordplay, and Amy shot down monster after monster. Martha razed down rows of Silence as she defended her ground in a solid stand against it all. She could have sworn she saw Strax and Jenny and Madame Vastra somewhere in there as well, and the form of someone much like that of the Doctor’s impossible girl he’d been seeing lately fall as she jumped to block a shot coming right for her family. River silently thanked her sacrifice.

River glared straight at the Daleks, eyes darting about as she tried to formulate a plan. Suddenly, an agile form spun between the trio of Daleks, slipping little green blinking dots into their air vents. River raised her gun, powering up the weapon.

“ _ Am I in the Tardis yet? _ ” The woman asked.

“DUCK!” River yelled, shooting at the Dalek’s the moment the EMP bombs exploded, taking down the Dalek’s shields long enough for River to kill them. 

“Am I in the Tardis yet?” The redhead of curls repeated, and River shot a munk.

“About time,” She said, “Yes. Your Father has you in there,” River answered, still trying to process this Mercy’s identity.

“Good. Make sure he stays there. A Paradox would be the last thing I want to worry about right now!” The girl flashed the smudged ink on her wrist from where the message River had sent was fading. “Came here as soon as I was done with Dad. Glad to see I didn’t miss all the fun!”

“You could die!” River scolded, and pushed the girl aside as the two women found themselves back-to-back, counting silence and naming each monster’s position to the other, working in harmony, circling around to shoot and avoid being shot at, their tango of violence building the carnage around them.

“Like I said,  _ fun! _ ” Mercy recalled, backhanding a grenade over her shoulder and River’s head, taking out several cybermen.

“Mercy I swear to the love of God himself if you don’t shut up and shoot I will personally make sure you regret this!” River huffed, and The girl shrugged her shoulders.

“As you say, Mum,” She dug her hands into her pockets and produced the little devices she had used earlier, passing a few to River, who took them, flinging them through the air. The magnets stuck to the cybermen, shutting down the walking tombs. “I like these,” River said.

“EMP beads. You gave them to me!” Mercy told her, “Well, future you did.” She pulled a long string of them from under her shirt, hanging from a necklace around her neck. 

A shot tore through River’s leg, then one her arm, but within the moment, the pain was gone. “You’ve got about an hour before that wears off!” Mercy said, and River looked down to see blood on her clothes, but no wounds. So she  _ was _ still able to regenerate. The battle raged on until, huffing and puffing, River looked over the mess.

Bodies littered the floor. Torchwood agents, Silence, Monks, Cybermen, Kovarian, Three empty Dalek shells and the supposed victors, alive and well enough.

“When did  _ she _ get here?” Amy said.

Mercy counted on her fingers, her blaster swinging around her thumb, “About…. Two and a half minutes ago,” she nodded, shooting a moving body on the floor.

“It’s too quiet,” Jack suddenly said beside them, his jacket about burned off, along with the rest of his smouldering clothes. Ianto stared a little too obviously at the Captain’s exposed arse.

“Yes it is,” River waded through the carnage over to her coat, which was hanging, unharmed, from the chair from earlier. She pulled out her scanner, and her face fell.

“Daleks  _ never _ come alone,” Mercy warned. “This? This is where it gets complicated.”

“What do you mean,  _ complicated? _ ” Martha said, “Who are you?”

“ _ Mercy Amelia Song _ , at your service,” Mercy mock bowed, curtsying to the woman, hands flourishing, head tipped down with a one-sided, amused smile on her face, as if she was enjoying this way too much. Amy made a loud,  _ ‘ha!’ _ noise when she heard the girl’s middle name, undeniably proud.

“This is Mercy.” River flicked her hand towards the girl beside her as she answered the question absentmindedly while waving her scanner upwards in an odd pattern, like a teenager with their phone trying to find a wifi signal.

Amy stalked over, examining her pseudo granddaughter with suspicion. “Are you really… Hello.”

Mercy nodded, Amy laughed. “Hello,” She said, reaching out to hug her, then drawing back.

Mercy threw her arms around the woman. “Hello, Grandmum,” She reciprocated.

“But… that’s…  _ what? _ Okay.” Martha worked it out. “Two Mercys. Got it.”

“As I said, complicated,” Mercy broke the hug, sticking out her hand to the woman, “You must be Doctor Martha Jones!”

“I am.” Martha nodded, shaking her hand, and the Tardis door suddenly flew open. Out swung the Doctor, raving about the presence of thousands of dalek fleets surrounding the planet. He froze when he saw Mercy. “But… But I just left you in my cot- what-?”

“And I’m still there, Dad,” Mercy walked over and hugged him as well, “The Tardis is the safest place for me to be right now. Make sure I stay there.”

“You’re right, Mercy should stay safe,” The Doctor pushed her towards the blue box.”

“I agree, she needs to get in there. Let the Adults handle this,” Amy said, warning the girl with a single look.

“No I think s _ he _ will stay outside,” Mercy spoke in third person, “It’s the baby we’re worried about.”

“Who just happens to be you,” Rory reminded her.

“I’m an adult, grandad, I can handle myself,” Mercy chided.

“Yes, she can,” River reluctantly admitted, “I’ve seen her shoot.”

“Thanks Mum,” Mercy smiled, nodding to her Professor, folding her arms, her alpha meason gun swinging around her fingertips in a flourished dance as it was returned to the holster at her hip. 

“When were we planning on addressing the Daleks?” The Doctor asked, his hands rubbing together out of nervousness. 

“I can take care of that,” Mercy volunteered, “I have an idea.”

“Be careful!” The Doctor called after her.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Mercy replied over her shoulder, skipping over the wreckage to the Dalek shells. She began messing with the wires.

“She really is your daughter,” Amy commented.

“What are you doing?” The Doctor asked.

“What does it look like? I’m getting in,” Mercy said. She pulled out her sonic, and buzzed the rivets on the shells, The panel on the side loosening. Dalekanium was a tough material to work with, but she pried it off with an ease one only gets from experience.

“You’re getting in?” The Doctor echoed.

River glanced between them, and then down at what Mercy was doing. She stepped over to assist her daughter, telling the others with a shake of her head, “Oh, she’s  _ smart. _ ”

“Okay, but what  _ exactly _ is she doing?” Rory asked.

Mercy stuck her head into the Dalek shell, and then drew it out. She shone a flashlight into it, and hummed, “Hold this.” She produced a plastic bag from her belt, and River held it open for her. Mercy then reached in and scooped out globs of cooked Dalek, letting the goop drip into the baggie.  “That’s gross,” Amy winced.

River closed up the ziplock when the girl was done, exclaiming, “That should be all of it!” River handed the baggie off to the Doctor, who held it with disdain. It was odd, seeing one of the universe's most dangerous beings reduced to slime stuck in a mickey mouse themed sandwich bag, but he’d rather that than alive any day. “Oh I like her,” Jack placed his hands on his hips.  River helped Mercy get into the Dalek shell, and the girl began fixing the wires inside once she was seated. 

“We still don’t know what she’s doing,” Amy whispered to the Doctor, who was getting more excited by the moment, his face saying,  _ ‘Look! Look at my child! River and I made a thing! _ ’

“I think I know,” He answered.

“You be careful,” River told the girl, who shrugged, “Where’s the fun in that?” The Doctor giggled, pointing excitedly between his two girls.

Mercy began giving an explanation, “This is just a recon Dalek. Luckily, Mum didn’t shoot out the communication system, so once Mum hacks in -I can’t code for the life of me- I’ll be able to send a signal that will buy us enough time to slip away unnoticed.”

“You sound unsure,” Amy noticed. 

“Have you ever piloted a Dalek shell?” Mercy asked, and when Amy shook her head, she said, “Well there’s a first time for everything!”

“Ohhh,” The Doctor excitedly got on the plan train, and began working on another Dalek shell after dropping the cartoonish bag of deadly Dalek into the hands of a very disgusted Rory, who set it carefully upon the back of a fallen cyberman. The Doctor began to explain, “We need to send them multiple reports that nothing was found. A whole army, much less a battalion of Daleks, would demand more than just one report, so with all three recons coming up with non-conflicting information, we stand a chance.”

“Got one up and running!” Mercy soniced the energy source, “Alright, we’ve got about fifteen minutes of juice.” She tossed her sonic to River, who finished up on the other Dalek, and the Doctor used his own on the third.

“Alright. The Kleptoneasion fusion barrier is still blocking all signals, so we have to assume the Daleks are just waiting for when that goes down, since we still have the vortex shield up as well,” Mercy reminded them.

“So we have a chance that they will all just attack instead?” Jack asked. The three timelords nodded.

“Dad, can you cover that Dalek there?” Mercy asked, hooking herself up inside, holding the receptors to her temples to get a telepathic signal. “Mum, I’m going to open the Communication system data cores and connect them to your scanner. You have full access to the computers now,” Mercy said, and Amy sheepishly got closer to the third shell.

“How familiar are you with dalek protocols, Mum?” River asked, and when Amy gave her a blank stare, she elaborated, “Just repeat after Mercy or The Doctor,” Amy nodded, and River placed the wires to her temples as well.

“You all ready?” Jack asked, and held up the Kleptoneasion fusion barrier, and began counting down. “Five… Four… Three… Two… One!” He dropped the Barrier and shot it to smithereens. Almost immediately, the Three Dalek encased Ponds were bombarded with recon report requests and updates and demands for ground visuals. The Shells came to life, eyestalks blinking and guns waving about in a technological seizure. 

The Doctor started first, and River held out the scanner so he could read the alphanumerical cereal code of the Dalek that he was occupying. “This is Dalek 6-1-9-D-7-G-2, And we have no reports for the Doctor. The Child has not been found!”

Amy was next, hesitantly starting, her voice hesitating then gaining strength. “This is Dalek 4-E-0-O-B-6-5, The Doctor has not been sighted!”

“Always speak as if the mission is still underway, and you are never defeated,” River reminded her.

Mercy didn’t need prompting, and she began to speak as her eyes flickered over the inside screen, occasionally twisting wires to isolate the signal and make sure her voice was a Dalek's, “This is Dalek 4-4-S-3-H-R-9. The Child is not here, Transit of troops is not required,” She looked way too satisfied with herself.

The Dalek ship replied, “ _ The Doctor’s Tardis has been detected. Is he in the Tardis? _ ”

“Bio-scans show that the Doctor is not in the Tardis,” Mercy replied.

“ _ Is there any chance your systems have been corrupted? _ ”

“Daleks cannot lie, Daleks cannot lie,” Mercy answered.

“ _ Then return immediately. _ ”

“Understood,” Mercy said, and the Doctor and Amy echoed her. Mercy ripped the wires from her forehead, and began getting out, quickly followed by Amy and her father. “I really don’t like smelling like  _ filet dalek _ ,” she said in a terrible french accent.

“Okay, they're down now,” River worked over her scanner, gradually and slowly shutting down the armored Shells so that they wouldn’t raise alarm on the fleets.

The Doctor ran back to his Tardis, returning quickly, exclaiming, “It worked! It worked!” He grabbed his wife’s face and kissed her full on the lips, and he wrapped his arms around Mercy and Amy, squeezing them half to death. 

“Now’s my time to go,” Mercy stepped back.

“Oh, that’s right. I have to go back to the boring you,” The Doctor looked down, his arm still slung over Amy, “All poopy and scream-y and boring.”

Mercy tilted her head, “You don’t really mean that.”

“I don’t,” The Doctor nodded, and stood closer to her. “Mercy…” He reached out and touched her cheek, “You go explore some worlds,” He said, “I think I want to wait to watch you grow up. For once, I’m going to take the long way around, and not skip forward. I wouldn’t want to miss this for the world.”

Mercy nodded into his hand, and he lowered it. “Five months, Dad, and not a second more. I’ll make sure Grandmum and Granddad get home safe.”

“Mercy wait,” River grabbed her arm, “I love you…” She started, “And I’m so proud you're my daughter.”

“I know, Mum, I love you too.” Mercy hugged her goodbye, “Go enjoy baby me, before I start walking and talking and being annoying and all that. I think I need to be fed or something...”

River looked down at herself, her hands coming up to hold up her swollen breasts, curls bouncing as she agreed, “Yeah, I think I’ll go do that.”

The Doctor and his wife let go of their daughter, turning away, waving one last time before leaving in the Tardis. Amy and Rory looked around at all the carnage. “How do we explain all this to Torchwood?” Ianto asked aloud.

“I’ll pull some strings,” Jack said, and Amy approached Mercy.

“So, Granddaughter, looks like it's just the three of us,” She smiled, and the trio of Ponds waded through the battle’s fallen and found their way through the facility. Mercy used her Psychic paper a couple times to get through, but they stole back their car, sneaking out the back. It was early morning, the sun breaking over the horizon. A blanket of fresh snow covered much of everything that hadn’t been encased in the Vortex shield a couple hours earlier, and Amy broke the silence, “Merry Christmas.”

“I almost forgot it was Christmas,” Rory mentioned. 

“Yeah, I’m a Christmas baby,” Mercy told them from the back seat. “I don’t mean to presume, but is there any way I could crash at your place tonight?”

“No presuming needed. You’re family,” Rory said.

“Even if we didn’t know you existed 24 hours ago,” Amy laughed.

“Thank you, guys.” Mercy responded, staring out the window at the early morning lights. The drive was ten minutes between Leadworth and Cardiff, and she enjoyed every minute of it. This version of her Grandparents would be seeing younger and older versions of her over the next couple years for them, before… well, she didn’t want to think about New York.

“One question;” Amy suddenly, looked over her shoulder at the girl, “If the space-lock thingie kept any matter from entering and leaving, how did you get in?”

Mercy placed a finger to her lips, “Spoilers.”


	11. Faraway Floodgates

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The couple learns to adjust with a baby around... frustration follows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Decided to post a little earlier today so I can focus more on writing tonight

River never ceased to surprise him. She had a strange habit of walking around the Tardis stark naked. Even before she had Mercy, she'd flounce herself around the time travelling ship, not a thread on her body. The Doctor didn't mind _-much_. As long as she wasn't doing it while any companions were around, he was just fine with her runway of nudity.

She looked like an ethereal goddess to him, almost floating. All skin and that gorgeous curly hair, muscles under her toned arms and thighs, he could stare all day if she let him.

And now that she had Mercy... oh _Damn_ , she was more than sexy. Her curves, while once being absolutely perfect under his hands, had filled out in a way he couldn’t tear his eyes from, and she looked so beautiful holding a child. Something in him surged each time he remembered she had conceived, carried, and birthed his child. Out of the trillions of choices, she carried his daughter.

River had a completely different, unique approach to skin-on-skin contact. She would walk around the Tardis, holding their daughter with careful grace, whispering secrets long forgotten, stories of the Timelords of old. The Doctor loved to watch her, striding about, talking to the Tardis and Mercy, sometimes speaking to him about whatever was on her mind that moment. He loved it.

He loved watching the way her curls would swish as she walked and bounced with each step. He loved watching her move about the room or attend to Mercy's needs.

The Tardis seemed to love Mercy just as much as they did. The old girl glowed gold whenever the child was near, letting orbs of colored light dance around her like bubbles that held bright galaxies. Mercy would bat at them, the Tardis humming back, as if to laugh at her antics. 

The Doctor loved Mercy's eyes. He knew she couldn't see much yet, being this young. Her eyesight would improve as the following year passed. But her eyes were bright, glittering, blue as the sea, and the Doctor knew they would change to match River's gentle greens. Mercy would babble, and The Doctor would speak back, slightly smug about the fact that he could understand his daughter from the very beginning. 

Mercy didn't have to always cry or squeak, either. As a Timelord, her telepathic abilities, while young and dreadfully inexperienced and undeveloped, were _certainly_ operational. And oh, that baby could scream. While her vocal chords made noise, she'd also reach out to River and the Doctor, or whoever she had physical access too, screaming in their thoughts as well until one of them gave her what she needed or River whipped out the magic breast and shut her up. 

"Oh yes, I know you like them..." the Doctor spoke back, and Mercy cackled. Offended, the Doctor replied, "Oi! Just because you've been hogging them doesn't mean I can't enjoy them too!"

"And what might she be saying now, sweetie?" River sarcastically asked, hands reaching out to take the child back from her husband. 

"I was telling her that before she came along, I was allowed to enjoy them all to myself-"

"My boobs?" River cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Yes, -without competition. But now Mercy says that they're her birthright."

"Well technically they are. Boobs are like legos. They're meant for children, but men have a tendency for loving them anyway." River teased.

"Perhaps, but there's still no need for- _Oi!_ You be respectful.” He reached over and poked Marcy’s nose, “She has a name, you know, and it's _Mummy_ to you," The Doctor spoke, poking his daughter's little nose.

“As long as I’m not _‘Big Milk Thing’_ , we’re all good.” River remembered her own Mother’s recounting of her babyhood.

The Doctor gave her a blank look, before scratching the back of his neck nervously, “Well you see, There’s this old saying, _like mother like daughter_ … and I think it applies to this situation abnormally strongly.”

River rolled her eyes at his jokes, staring down at the girl in her arms. “I still don’t believe that you speak baby.”

“I can too,” He replied, folding his arms. River shook her head in response.

Neither of them could have ever guessed that their times spent together would come to this. The little family nestled together was on a time limit, a concept not strange to the Doctor, weather he recognized it or not. In Torchwood Facilities, after the close call with the whole _‘literally everyone wants your child and will kill anyone in their way’_ scare, River had made a proposition that they stay as close as possible in this time they had before it was lost. They were more in sync in their timeline than they had ever been before, even if Mercy were the product of a much younger version of this face. 

But with the tricks time played on their love, it was safer to stay together, as not to be seperated and mixed up again. Mercy hardly ever left the Tardis, which made the two new parents more comfortable with this whole arrangement. 

Rewriting time is difficult and a very tricky endeavor. The two had shared every speck of information Mercy had told them, even all that River remembered Mercy telling her as a student to Professor, as to avoid rewriting anything they didn't want to change. Within their blue box, the first three days passed as River learned how to be a Mum and the Doctor relearned again how to be a Dad.

Who knew parenthood was so tough? It was just a little creature that ate and pooped and slept, right?

**_Wrong._ **

Mercy was much more of a responsibility than they expected. Her third night of outside existence, she hadn’t stopped crying for hours. She hadn't been able to sleep until she was completely tuckered out, and would cry out of her own exhaustion, sleeping for about thirty minutes before starting the cycle again. She was in a loop, unable to settle, gasping before each shriek, wailing her little hearts out. Pretty soon, River had joined her, tears falling down her face as she tried to get her to sleep. “Come on, baby, just calm down,” River begged, “You were much easier to reason with when you were nineteen,” She sighed.

“Oi, to sleep with you too,” The Doctor came in, his voice a little louder than usual. River looked up to see him swagger in, just as tired as her, with large, noise-cancelling headphones over his ears. “I got this,” He leaned over, taking the baby from his old cot, and starting to shush her. “What’s got you all worked up, Mercinator?”

“ _Mercinator?_ ” River repeated, unimpressed.

“Nicknames are important to these little guys,” He disputed, then flipped his head in the direction of their bed, “Go get to sleep, or take a shower, or eat something… whatever you women like to do.”

“Thank you,” River pulled herself up out of the rocking chair, letting the father take her place. She ambled off, looking for some dinner. “I’ll pump some milk for her so I can try to sleep,” She shouted to him, and left when he gave her a thumbs up from under the blanket. “Your Mama made this for you, didn’t she?” He ran his free fingers over the soft knitted blanket. Tardis blue, with golden stars, and her name, a very messily stitched **_Mercy_ ** , and the following surname, **_Song_ **, in elegant calligraphy through the woven constellations. The girl continued to cry.

The Doctor looked down, and whispered, “You’ve been changed, you’ve been fed, you’ve been moved to a location with minimal stimuli… Whatcha thinking about that has you all worked up?”

He caught the pain in her thoughts. “Oh, you remember your Mummy’s nightmares?” He frowned. Apparently, when River was still with child, she’d unknowingly shared her dreams with little, unborn Mercy, who was now afraid to go to sleep herself.

“Oh, Mercinator…” He smiled down at her, “You don’t have to be afraid. I’m here. Your Mum’s doing all she can for you. Both of us would do anything to keep you safe,” He remembered the much older Mercy’s words, and spoke them to her now. “Your Mum and I would move the stars themselves to get to you the second you called.”

He adjusted her around to rest in his other arm, and pulled out his sonic, “My other baby friend, Stormageddon liked this…” He let the sonic flip on the hololamp, casting vast galaxies throughout the room. The Tardis did not disappoint. Nebulas swirled and sparkled with falling stardust sifting through the air as each celestial body was born, and warm supernovas glowed warmly as they died. 

“Yeah, that's a little better, isn’t it?” he asked, setting his screwdriver over on the dresser and taking off the headphones. She was still crying, but not quite as loudly as before. “Now, lets see what we can do about those scary dreams, shall we?” He prompted, and assured her that she was perfectly safe, and Mummy’s dreams couldn’t hurt her. It was in the past, and someday, when she was much older, Mercy would learn to fight her own nightmares on her own. But for how, he tried to fill her tiny, quick head with a peace and calmness that would let her sleep unafraid.

He told her about each star in the room, the adventures he’d had and those he planned on having. He told her of the ones he wanted to take her too, and relive through the brightness in her eyes. “My age disappears when I see through your’s,” He whispered, “And I am an old thing. I've seen the universe begin and the universe end. I’ve lived every life there is to live. I've raised planets and I’ve burned them. You have an old man for a father, little Mercinator.” 

She was asleep. The Doctor realized that with Mercy’s position against his shoulder, there was no way to move her or set her down without waking her, as he supplied her dreams with warmth. “That darkness won’t win against you, daughter.”

The Doctor carefully stood, his arm holding Mercy against himself, and pocketed his screwdriver with his free hand before placing the hand back over his daughter. Tiptoeing out, he found that the Tardis had quite nicely lowered the lighting to a much more sleep-possible, relaxing atmosphere of dark golds and purples and blues, without any bright lights to wake her. “Thanks, ole girl. We couldn't do this without you,” He said aloud, and the walls warmly pulsed light and she hummed.

He found River, passed out on a bar stool over the kitchen counter, her toast long popped up, and the pumping machine had turned off on its own. He collected the little bag of milk, and set it in the fridge. He reheated River’s toast, and spread it with butter, honey and fresh sliced strawberries, the way she liked it. Setting it on a plate, he gently woke the woman and handed her the plate. River sleepily removed the contraption from her, leaving the pump on the counter and she walked back to their bedroom with him. The woman collapsed on the bed, only half the toast eaten. 

The Doctor finished it for her, and reclined back against the headboard the best he could next to his wife, who instinctively curled up against his side. He kept Mercy asleep for the next hour, until he was drawn to her whimpering. A surge of protection welled up in him, and he got up, and went back again to the kitchen. He reheated the milk in warm water on the stove, testing the temperature on the inside of his arm before angling it toward his eighty four hour old daughter, allowing her to get at the food. _No! It’s not Big Milk Thing!_ She spat it out. Not this nonsense again… 

“Your Mum made it just for you,” He argued.

_No! It’s not Big Milk Thing!_

“You can eat, or not let Mummy sleep.” He replied.

_Why don’t you make it?_

“Because I’m not a girl like Mummy and you.”

_I’m like Mummy?_

“Ha! You called her Mummy that time.”

_Did not._

“Yes you did. And yes, you are like your Mum. Someday, you’ll even look kinda like her.”

_No._

“Yes,” He kept up the conversation. Quite the little sass-master, this one. He slowly tucked the nipple of the bottle under her lip, and she latched on. “You both have space hair and guns and even like archeology.”

_What's that?_

“It's a big word that means that your Mummy likes to play with old things.”

_You said you were an old thing._

“Well your Mummy likes me too.” Mercy didn’t answer, slowly getting milk drunk as she stretched her little arms up to wave at him. Within the following moments, she was able to drink another ounce. He held up the bottle, “Well wouldja look at that. You finished most of the bottle.”

_Did not._

“And since you did so in record time, I’d like to think it wasn’t as bad as you thought it would be, and you liked it.”

_Did not._

“Whatever you say, Mercinator.” He agreed, stepping in such a way as to bounce her enough to lull her to sleep. 

Another few days passed, and the struggle to keep up with their lives and taking care of Mercy was starting to catch up on them. 

“I want to go to my Mother’s house.” River said one afternoon, after changing and putting Mercy down to sleep, “I need help.”

“You have me,” The Doctor looked offended.

“It’s not the same,” River answered him firmly, and when River’s made up her mind, she wouldn’t be changing it any time soon. So The Doctor flew his Tardis to his in-laws’, even turning off the brakes for his wife, as much as he missed the noise. They landed in the living room, much to the surprise of Amy and Rory.

“You smashed our Christmas tree!” Amy exclaimed.

The Doctor looked down over the bags of his daughter’s necessities, and saw that indeed, there were pineneedles, shattered ornaments, tinsel and sappy branches sticking out from under the blue box. “Sorry?”

“Dad?” River called from behind him, “Mum?”

The two parents exited their time machine, and Amy took one look at them and knew what was up. “Hand her over, you two, go take a shower.” She let them drop the supplies on the floor, taking Mercy. She suddenly added, “-But not together!”

Rory sighed, “Towels are in the closet to the right!”

“Thank you,” River called behind her, leaving her child with her Mum.

When showers were taken and they’d changed into better clothes, The Doctor went to try to organize stuff into the guest room while River sat on the couch, nursing Mercy while she almost cried to her Mum about how she needed help and didn’t know what she was doing. Amy sighed, sipping a cuppa as she listened to her daughter.

“And she only slept once the Doctor figured out that she was having nightmares-”

“At three days?”

“Apparently she got them from me! I didn’t even have her yet and I was terrorizing her already! I’m a terrible Mum and I don’t know what I’m doing -I’m ruining her life already!” River got worked up, which woke Mercy as well, who started crying again.

Amy got up from the armchair and sat next to her daughter, an arm around her, lifting the blanket that had been concealing River and Mercy, taking the baby gently. “Oi, you.” Amy began speaking, “You’re being kinda difficult right now.”

River watched them, and Mercy reached up to grasp the red hair that fell near her little face.

“She’s asking if your hair is red.” The Doctor was suddenly behind them, hair wet from a shower and he eased himself down in the armchair Amy had been occupying earlier, “She’d been wanting to know what red hair looks like ever since I told her it would be red.”

“I thought babies couldn’t see much this young.” Amy recalled.

“They can’t. She can’t. She’s just stubborn enough she still wants to know.” The Doctor yawned.

"She gets it from the both of you..." Rory commented.

“Well it’s odd seeing you two so dressed down. Usually you're dressed for glamorous space adventures,” Amy looked between the Doctor and River. Her daughter was wearing a wash-worn, soft button up Amy was positive belonged to her Son-in-Law, and leggings. The Doctor was in sweats and a pilly looking grey sweater.

The two new parents just nodded, and calmly leaned back, trying to regain some sanity. Rory came in, and said, “I’m making pancakes for supper. If anyone wants anything special, I’;m taking orders now.”

At those words, the Doctor perked up, “Is there whipped cream and chocolate chips?”

Amy looked between him and her husband, “Uh… I think so.”

“Yes!” The Doctor jumped up, reenergized from the prospect of sweet breakfast foods for supper, his wet flop of hair falling into his eyes. He joined Rory, spinning around the kitchen and his confused Father-in-law, who seemed to end up doing maybe ten percent of the work as soon as the Doctor got his hands on a skillet and chocolate chips.

Twenty minutes later, there were a hundred and thirteen chocolate chip pancakes made and each plate set before each Pond with little smiley faces of whipped cream on them. Amy had helped River figure out the Moby sling, which pressed little Mercy against her mother’s chest, while leaving River’s hands free. The Ponds ate, and Amy offered to watch Mercy for a few hours this evening to allow her daughter to sleep. River showed her that she’d already put bags of milk in the fridge, and reminded her how to heat them. Amy placed a hand on her, and assured, “Don’t worry. Try to sleep.”

When night fell and the traffic died, River collapsed in bed, knowing that Amy and Rory were downstairs watching TV with her husband and daughter.

Hours later when she woke with a start, her keen ears picked up a faint voice and whimpering sounds. She put on her sandals and crept down the stars, turning quickly around each corner with her Alpha Meason Gun drawn and powered up. Stepping into the living room, she saw that her father had gone to bed, and Amy stood in the kitchen in her nightie, warming water on the stove. “You think that’s about right?” She asked.

“Riv said to test it on the inside of your wrist,” The Doctor answered, “That’s what I do at least….” He made an odd face, “But she tastes it.” Amy snickered, and handed him the bottle after checking the temperature. 

“I’m going to go to bed since you don’t sleep anyway.” Amy told him, and leaned over her granddaughter, kissing her head before leaving to head upstairs.

River watched the figure of her husband walking around the room in circles, talking softly to the mewling baby, “I don’t know how many times I have to remind you, your Mummy needs sleep too,” He paused, and coaxed the babe with the bottle, “No, it’s not Mum, but I think you can manage a little, right?” He waited a beat, “There you go.”

Mercy finally took the bottle, and The Doctor stepped in a bouncing pattern, and to River’s surprise, he began to softly sing on gallifreyan;

 _“May your hearts beat forever in the stars,_ _  
__And your lives become stories to always live._ _  
__May your memories appear to guide ours,_ _  
__And to your soul, all regard we shall give._ _  
__Then when come the end of time,_ _  
__And your breath become the substance of the orbits,_ _  
__A leading light to those in proxime,_ _  
__Your legacy to join that of strong spirits.”_

River’s breath caught in her throat at the words. She’d heard them before, years ago, only spoken softly in English. She had been told it was a goodbye, but now she knew the truth. It was lullaby. 

River leaned against the doorpost, and figured that her family, no matter what she knew would come to pass, would be alright.


	12. Freezing the Fire

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my sweeties! To all of my lovely readers, I am sorry to announce that I will be going on a very short hiatus until I finish this School quarter. I promise it won't be long... Thank you! <3

He’d spent four and a half, beautiful months with this family.

The Doctor could feel each hour, each moment slip from his fingers as it ran out, the time escaping his desperate grasp. He had been given Five months. One hundred Fifty-two days to love his family. Three thousand, Six hundred and Forty-eight hours to treasure his child before…

He knew the risk he was taking. Even River refused to mention that their time was soon to be cut short. She’d make passing glances of worry when he would refuse to put Mercy down to sleep or stare at her until he would look away with misty eyes.

They’d worked through throwups and especially stinky poos, which usually ended up being chucked into the Time Vortex at arms length in a caution tape wrapped diaper. They’d found she liked the stars, as he had predicted, but hated the cold chill that came with living in space. They’d figured out her little quirks and characteristics, such as ‘ _ there shall be absolutely NO lights on after fall I sleep _ ’, or  _ ‘you will end up with a grumpy baby if you even dare to try to even attempt anything with carrots in it. _ ’

There had been another scare when her umbilical cord stump finally fell off, and they never found it. The Doctor joked Timelord cords crawled off on their own, but River didn’t fall for it, no matter how serious he pretended to be.

The first time she ate any soft food, she’d puked it all over her father only moments later, much to the amusement of the Tardis and River.

The next humorous moment followed when River had picked up her daughter and set her down for some tummy time and noticed a large bald spot on the back of her head. She’d panicked, worrying that somehow it was permanent. The Doctor had laughed, and said it was okay because it would grow back, and was just rubbed short from being on her back for much of the first few months of her life.

Mercy liked swimming. Well, the closest a baby can get to swimming. She had struggled to gain weight at first, but once the Doctor was sure she was buoyant enough, he took her right to the Swimming pool, under the strict and watchful eye of River, and held her carefully in the water, letting her shriek and gaggle at the splashing of her hands. She especially liked to kick her chubbly little legs to splash his face, the poor man not daring to even let one hand off her enough to wipe his face of the water dripping from his hair. He always managed to get River to join them, and she’d strip, as usual, and gracefully dive right in with perfect form, coming up from the water behind him to play peek-a-boo over his shoulder with their daughter.

Mercy grew, and became cuter by the day. Each time they went grocery shopping, all kinds of beings would fawn over her and compliment her parents about excellent genes.

Moments slipped through his fingers. Quiet hours became days. Hectic days became perfect months. 

They were visiting the Ponds for an Easter Sunday meet-up when his time ran out. Neither knew just  _ how _ it would happen. River worried he’d just up and disappear one night. The Doctor worried they’d be forcibly separated. At least, that’s what he’d tell her. Deep down, he was afraid he’d do exactly what River feared.

His passing mistake was when he casually mentioned Trenzalore, and he knew he’d screwed up.

“You haven’t done Trenzalore?” River echoed.

He’d given her a blank stare, and she knew. Amy and Rory had watched awkwardly as the couple screamed at each other, both believing they were right. River argued that he was making a dangerous mistake trying to change the timeline and that he  _ had _ to do Trenzalore, because Mercy had told him he wouldn’t if he knew about her. The Doctor spat back, asking her how was she supposed to blame him when he just wanted to be with his wife and daughter and family.

That was the first domino to fall.

“Excuse me,” Amy had said when the doorbell rang, the two timelords pausing their argument momentarily. Amy had returned with a very confused Brian at her side as she welcomed her father-in-law inside, who promised that his wife would be there soon. River and the Doctor immediately took on a tense, cold air, glaring at each other while Mercy cried from the mounted bassinet by the table, set with fake green grass and pastels for the occasion.

Brian already knew the Doctor, and had awkwardly shook his hand, and then River’s, never knowing she was once Mels, nor his granddaughter. He’d said Mercy was cute and mentioned he didn’t know there would be kids or he would have brought candy. The Doctor assured him the baby had liked that idea.

“She’s too young anyway,” River said, jaw firm. Brian sensed the atmosphere in the room when the couple refused to make eye contact and sat on other sides of the table. 

The second Domino fell when things got significantly more complicated. A noise like a can of soda pop being opened with a touch of electrical storm came from the living room. “Am I late?” 

An older Mercy appeared in the room, sporting a stupidly pink set of fuzzy floppy bunny ears over her head and her hair sprinkled with… glitter? 

“Mercy?” The Doctor looked between the girl and the baby version, “What are you doing here?”

The girl looked at the scene before her, muttered some atrocities in Gallifreyan, to which River exclaimed, “Language, young lady!” 

Mercy sighed, and began pacing, then speaking again in Gallifreyan as she did the math, once again saying a very colorful word in her mother tongue. Brian looked wildly confused at the scene before him.

“Why are you here, again?” The Doctor asked, “Not that I’m not happy to see you, just wondering why.”

Mercy swung a chair out, sitting with her arms flung over the backrest and stradling the seat, “Well you see, There’s a little bitty, tiny winy Prophecy-shaped problem that has half the universe currently after my stupid brain, and since this is a crucial day for you and lil baby me, I thought I’d drop in and give you a warning.”

“What do you mean,  _ baby you? _ ” Brian asked. His question was unanswered.

River spoke up, “What do you mean? What prophecy? How old are you?”

Mercy clicked her teeth. "You guys don't know about the prophecy?" She looked between their waiting faces. "Well, you will soon. Sorry for that."

"What's really going on?" 

“Spoilers, Mum,” Mercy tried to laugh as if nothing were bothering her, then grew serious, “Like, I’m not kidding. You might wanna get out of here soon.”

“Okay, why is it always last minute with you?” Rory sighed when Mercy set a timer down on the table that was terrifyingly familiar to the Doctor. His mental clock was in time with it, counting down the minutes now, before his time was up. He remembered Mercy’s words, “ _ Five months, and not a second more _ .”

“I’m fighting for once, Mercy,” The Doctor slammed his fist on the table. She jumped, the bunny ears sliding haphazardly over to one side of her head. He shouted, “I’m not giving this up! I’m not losing another family!”

River calmed her earlier anger enough to speak to him, “Sweetie, if this is a fixed point, you know what happens if you try. I pulled this stunt once, and I’m not going to let you do it too.”

The Doctor spun, “It’s not fair! It’s not bloody fair! The laws of Time are MINE, and they shall obey ME!”

“This is exactly what I was afraid of…” Mercy said, taking a deep breath before a bright light shone, and time itself stopped, the figures falling to the floor as the universe collapsed.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

When River Song opened her eyes, she knew where she was; Her apartment at Luna University. Except it was not quite right…

There was an authentic Roman bath to her left where her bathroom used to be, and a window took up most of the wall, revealing sailboats suspended by rocket propulsion soaring through the atmosphere. When she rolled out of bed, there were plexiofoam slippers for her feet and a Celtic dressing gown slung over a chair, which she wrapped around herself.

Laughing voices came from the kitchen area. Her feet padded down the halls. One room was converted into the epitome of a teenage angst cave, with strikingly emo rock music posters peeling from the walls and textbooks scattered all over the floor. The bed was a mess of purple, black, grey and white striped pride sheets, and an American pioneer Quilt slung over the front end, like it’s usual occupant sleeps as if they have no fear of God himself. A lesser than lifesize model of a hyperspace engine nestled inside a mechanical horse-drawn carriage was the first thing to spike her complete confusion, not to mention the amount of magazine clippings of fashion from literally every time period mashed with Alien models sporting each design. Tardis-shaped fairy lights hung from the ceiling, and dirty laundry was slung over every available space. River stepped in, staring at the room before turning back to investigate the kitchen.

“Here comes that orient express!” The Doctor made a  _ chew-chew  _ train noise as he spoon fed a baby Mercy some mashed  _ cooked! _ Plums (long story of that learned lesson) from a high chair next to the counter. “Good morning, sweetie!” He exclaimed, and set down the baby food to hug his wife and kiss her.

“Mornin’ Mum,” a familiar voice came from the couch in the adjoining living room, where the older Mercy also sat, doing homework with headphones on, blaring Rock music loud enough for her to hear through them. She held up three pieces of paper, “Did I do the math right this time, Dad?” She asked.

The man almost skipped over, and took the papers, looking over them. “Mercy, you dropped a negative sign here and you didn’t solve for beta. Check the pi sequence again.”

“But I keep getting a reverse imaginary number for Beta! It could literally be anything!”

“There’s a correct answer, I promise you.”

“Oh I hate this.” Mercy grumbled, and went back to work.

It took River about two seconds to figure out what was going on. Time was melting all around them, stopped in its tracks. The Doctor himself was rewriting time, and she knew the consequences.

“Doctor?” River wrapped her arms around herself, noticing the Franklin stove in the corner (That was certainly new) and tilting her head at him. She caught sight of the band of golf around his third finger, and she realized she was wearing one too.

“Good Morning, Sweetie!” He repeated, and he suddenly asked, “Can you clean up Mercy? She made quite the mess.”

“I noticed, but I wasn’t the one who chose  _ purple plum power _ for her breakfast.” She observed, and read the label. The Baby gushed, hands hitting the highchair, the little star-shaped fruit puffs flying into the air. River scrunched her eyebrows. Her baby was still a half month away from eating solids…

The Doctor looked at her pleadingly, and the dots connected, “You can’t actually touch them…” She said.

The Doctor looked down at the floor. “The moment I do, she’s gone from me forever.”

River’s mouth formed a hard line, her hand resting against his cheek before it fell away harshly, “You know better than that, Doctor! You’ll see her again!”

“But I’ve still lost her!” He looked pleadingly at his wife, hoping that she’ll understand. 

“Would you two shut it? I’m trying to finish my homework.” The teenager in the living room yelled just as loud. River gave her a warning look.

“How are they both even here?” River asked, frowning. Time was already falling apart, and he’d even drug a _ massive _ paradox into the mix.

“It doesn’t matter,” The Doctor looked down, and then spun around to pick up a baby carrier, looking to River again to help him. River begrudgingly obliged, and cleaned up the little stained baby, taking off the burp rag that had been protecting her clothes, and buckled her into the carrier. The Doctor picked it up by the handle, and smiled, “I’m dropping her off at Amy’s, and I need to get to work. You and Mercy are going to be late for classes.”

“Amy’s? My Mother’s here?” River put her hands on her hips, watching her husband leave. As soon as the door closed behind him, she rubbed her temples. They couldn’t live like this, no matter how much he tried. Stepping over baby toys and other random objects that made her apartment look much more lived in than she liked, River approached her daughter.

“You awake?” Mercy asked in a normal voice, taking off the headphones.

“Well, yeah, I just woke up,” River sat down next to her on the couch, looking at the complex Calculus III homework spread out on the coffee table. 

Mercy sighed, “so you mean no…”

A small smile creeped up her face, and River added, “If you mean to ask if I know who I really am and that this is an aborted universe where time is melting, then yes.”

“Oh thank Rassillion’s Staff, I was getting worried I was the only sane one.” Mercy slammed shut her math textbook, “What do you remember?”

“Everything.”

Mercy agreed, “Same. But Grandmum and Granddad aren’t so lucky, and Grandpa Brian’s not quite right in the head here.”

River nodded, “That can be remedied… Where’s the Tardis?”

Mercy grinned, “My room, invisible, trying to support this whole thing, and quickly failing.”

River folded her arms, nodding with relief of knowing it’s location at least, “That place is a mess.”

“I’m not posing as a teenager for nothing, you know.” Mercy tilted her head in reference to the spot her father had been moments ago. She then worked a fast collection of circles and dots and curves and lines on a piece of paper, and River caught it before it was erased,  _ I’m twenty five, Mum. _

“Well by Gallifreyan standards, you won’t be a legal adult until you’re a hundred and six.” River laughed softly. “But what do we presently have to help fix this?”

Mercy grabbed her hand, leaving behind her homework and text book, she pulled her in the direction of her room, and once inside, held up her free hand, snapping her fingers.

Nothing happened.

“Yeah, I shouldn’t expect her to listen when she’s working so hard.” Mercy sighed, and took out her Tardis key from around her neck, and unlocked the door, disappearing inside. River followed. 

“This is  _ not _ good.” River bit her lips, looking around to see the heated pipes and steaming floors, the screen constantly shorting out.

“I haven’t had the apartment heat on for days…”

River nodded, and asked, “What’s the data you’ve gathered so far? All I know is that he can;t touch you or your younger self.”

Mercy nodded, “She’s so annoying…”

River looked offended, and mock scolded, “You have some personal positivity, young lady.”

Mercy shrugged, and showed her the faint readings, and the stopped clock. “This isn't the only thing,” Mercy reached into her purse and pulled out her Diary, which was… _glitching?_

“What the hell?” River looked over her daughter’s shoulders at the neat handwriting flashing by, occasionally appearing just a little bit different than before, bit by bit.

Mercy sighed, and closed it away. “Every morning I wake up, I copy my brain signature scan into the Tardis Matrix, strictly in order to track the effect this is having on me.” She pulled up a hologram of her brain, the glowing shape turning softly. “This was day one… then two.. And three, and so on this week for the last six days.”

River nodded, catching Mercy’s meaning, “Your memories, and therefore your personality, is changing?”

Mercy nodded, “I have no idea what I've even lost anymore. I don’t know how this is even possible, considering I should have plenty of time travel insurance on this kind of thing, but my Sonic can’t keep up any more.”

River gave her a worried look, “If your memories are changing, then what happens when they can’t change any more?”

That’s when Mercy looked down at her feet, then up at her Mother. “I have two days before  _ this _ me -the original me- is either wiped from all of history, or I have the Timelord version of mental breakdown, and basically become brain dead… and I don’t know what’s worse.”

River didn’t realize her mouth had opened in shock. “Have you told your father about this?”

Mercy shook her head, “That's the problem... He's so bent on saving both me's, I don't think he'd listen. I can’t do this without you, Mum.”

River made up her mind. “Then we force him. I don’t know how, but we force him to end this and get everyone home.” She hugged her daughter.

Mercy nodded into her Mother’s shoulder. “It’s a plan.”


	13. Til The River Meets The Sea, So I Shall Follow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The end of Volume One of "The Adventures of Mercy Song" comes to a close when the Doctor must make a choice, to save his family, or save the universe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, my sweeties! 
> 
> As you probably saw in the summary, the First volume of Mercy's story is coming to an end. This does not mean the end of the book at all, (we still have some Library saving to get too!) but the first volume, which gives some background on Mercy and her life, has shown how the Doctor meets her. 
> 
> Volume Two shall follow Mercy's younger years, in which she grows up. The Timelines may be a bit confusing, so I shall be sharing a makeshift timeline in relation to her parents at the end of this chapter. Thank you all for reading this far. 
> 
> P.S. at some point I might reupload this chapter to include another picture of Mercy and her Parents while on their Flagship, so you can get a visual of River and The Doctor's outfits. Until I upload it, imagine something like this beautiful art I found by Adele Lorienne 2013, https://i.pinimg.com/originals/91/a0/b5/91a0b5f21e8826c871c204eb789b81b3.jpg

Mercy showed her Mum around, updating her on what she’d missed out on while still living in the _Time Melt_ , as the two women had begun to call it. The Doctor was a professor of Physics and Sciences and Higher Course Maths, and Amy babysitted little Mercy during the daytime. It took River about an hour when her breasts began to ache that elder Mercy finally decided to tell her Mum that the baby still occasionally breastfed and took bottles of milk that she pumped.

They tried to plan an elaborate meeting where Mercy somehow managed to get him to touch both her and the baby version, which would end the Melt immediately, instead of letting Time get started up again and giving the Doctor a chance to get away before it was reversed.

They decided to get everyone in the Tardis ASAP instead. That meant a Nursing Home heist, a potential kidnapping, and parent-theft.

Easy enough, right?

Amy was easy to convince. Once River told her she was indeed _not_ crazy, she was able to remember enough to get Rory to come along and bring Mini-Mercy. Brian was a bit harder obtain, and the whole mission ended with a lot of loud alarms going off, Amy as a getaway driver, and Rory breaking down doors to let a crazed Timelady pushing a terrified senior citizen’s wheelchair out of the Care facility and up into a flying sailboat River had hotwired.

But once everyone was in the Tardis, the Matrix did it’s work, and everyone would remember who they were, as long as they stayed close to the Tardis.

About lunch time, the Doctor came pounding on the apartment door, worried. River acted natural, claiming to have taken a day off. That didn’t explain Mercy’s class absences, though, and The Doctor demanded to know what was really going on.

“Come on,” River answered, and pulled him to Mercy’s room and took down the invisibility of the Tardis. He got suddenly very excited, spouting that he might be able to truly make this work. She glared at him while he spoke, waiting till he finally noticed his wife’s displeasure.

Then Mercy and Amy came out, arms folded, The redhead woman having found out her granddaughter’s fate. Amy marched up and slapped him, “Wake up, Raggedy Man!”

“Oi! What was that for?” The Doctor jerked his head to look back at his companion, his hand nursing the red mark to his jaw.

“You can’t go around all of space and time, telling people how to live their lives, then run from a fixed point any second you wish!” Amy growled, and he looked offended.

“I’m saving them!” The Doctor defended himself.

“I don’t feel very saved…” Mercy commented from the back.

“It's... _unnatural_ to have two of the same child around, Doctor.” Rory agreed.

“I’m doing what I should have done as a Father many years ago. I’m doing my best!”

“You’re erasing your daughter from existence!” Amy shouted out suddenly. That got his attention. The Doctor looked around expectantly, asking what they meant.

Mercy stepped forward. “My personality is being rewritten. The only way I know is because I’ve been downloading my consciousness into the Tardis each morning, and they conflict.”

The Doctor stared at his daughter, “But my loyalty to our family should be good for you, right?”

Mercy folded her arms, “But you are losing me. _This_ me. The original me who you met on that asteroid and saved from a Yazdrike bite. The more this goes on, the more I change.”

“Doctor, do you not see what you’re doing?” Amy begged. 

“I’m still working it out!” The Doctor threw back, “I can make sure she’s safe and happy!”

“Time doesn't work that way, Doctor,” River reminded him. “Come on, if you _must_ have proof to knock into that thick head of yours that this is wrong, we’ll give you proof.” River spun around and headed into the Tardis, the rest of the Song/Pond family following in tow.

Brian got up from where he was sitting on the steps, “I was wondering why you all were hanging out there so long. What’s going on? Why am I back here again?”

Amy waved around her, “Long story short, Meet the extended family. My son-on-law, My Daughter, My granddaughters, and the sentient time traveling ship they currently live and travel in.” Each person introduced nodded their heads so Brian would know who they were.

“I am also the baby there.” Mercy popped up, waving. “Time travel is great.”

Brian pinched himself, “Did I eat something last night? Am I high? What the hell?”

Mercy sighed, “Think _Back to the Future_ minus _Terminator_ and divided by _Hot Tub Time Machine._ ”

“What the f-” River shook her head at her daughter’s pop culture reference attempt. Wait what? The Mercy she knew, her daughter, wasn’t into movies. She'd rather point out scientific inaccuracies and mistakes related to historical whitewashing and inconsistencies than quote them.

"And these are both Mercy?" Brian blanked, pointing at the older version and then the baby one for reference.

"Yes," The Doctor answered, "meet your great-granddaughter, Mercy."

"And this is my _grand_ daughter?" Brian blinked at River, "Let me get this straight, You two made her-" Her pointed at Amy and Rory then to River, "And you two made them-" He pointed at River and the Doctor, and waved toward baby Mercy and the Adult one.

"Pretty much."

"And this out-of-order time machine made it so that My granddaughter _and_ my great-granddaughter are aliens like you?" Brian wiped his hands over his face as the group collectively nodded. "This is crazy."

"I'm still partly Human, and Mercy still has Human DNA in her," River said, "I used to be able to regenerate, but... well that's a long story."

"Regenerate? What? You're like a Lizard?" Brian said an octave higher than usual.

"No, I just change my body."

"Like a shedding snake? Or a Butterfly?" Brian was desperately trying to understand, the look on his face as he tried to imagine a human looking alien pulling a Xmen's Viper move or wrapping themselves up in a cocoon.

"No," River sighed, "More like a lot of energy and _poof_ , you're someone else. I'm on my third and last regeneration... The Doctor has twelve faces, twelve regenerations. We have no idea about Mercy." River calmly said, leaving out the part about having been Mels before she was herself now. Mercy bit her lip and looked down.

"You know what? I'm just going to stop thinking about it and sit down.” Brian shook his head, and sitting down in the corner with his head in his lap.

“We still need to solve this.” Amy brought the former subject back up. 

“Ah yes, I was just pulling those up,” Mercy pulled a lever and clicked a few switches, and the same brain scans she’d shown her mother earlier came up. “And this is what I mean by they’re conflicting.”

“Look at that.” Rory pointed to the front section of Mercy’s brain, “I’m no neurologist, but something’s happening to her frontal lobe.”

“That’s where decision-making skills and emotions are processed.” River added.

“I’m being rewritten, Father. Don’t you see? The longer I’m here, the more permanent this shall be!”

The Doctor looked up sharply from where he’d been awkwardly studying the floor. “Don’t you tell me what to do. I have more experience with time travel than you.”

“You are currently losing me, Father. This is not an if, or when. It is now. Either this me is wiped from history, or I become brain dead.”

“If I can just save you-” The Doctor shot back.

Mercy stepped into his direct vision. Her words were spoken lowly, but with such anger they couldn’t be ignored. “That’s the thing, Father. I don’t need saving. You're just not able to accept that for once, _you can’t control how things end_ . Look at me. I’m _fine._ I turn out just fine. You have to give me up. _You have to let g_ o!”

The Doctor gave her a piercing stare. “I know what I’m doing.” There must have been power in that decision, because the following moment could have only been explained by his fixation on his choice not to leave them.

Mercy stepped back, appalled. Suddenly, her hands began to shake and she seemed dizzy. “Mum?” Mercy started to shiver, her legs losing their integrity as she stumbled over to her mother. River caught the collapsing girl. “Mum! Oh Mum it hurts!” Her hands clawed at her head, then she fell still in her mother's arms.

“Mercy? Mercy! What’s wrong?” River desperately tried to check her temperature, then her heartbeats and breathing. She pushed the girl’s hair from her eyes and held her up to breathe. The limp body rested in the older woman’s lap, and Amy rushed to her side and leaned over her. Rory shone a light into the young timelady’s unresponsive eyes. He did a general vitals check, and said, “She’s just unconscious.”

It was like a flip of a switch, and the girl was awake in a flash. Her eyes popped open and she jumped up, scrambling away from her concerned and wildly confused family. “Oh Hello, Mummy Dearest.” Mercy tilted her head, not a single emotion written on her face.

River frowned. That was _very_ unlike her.

“What’s the family reunion for?” The Not-So-Mercy squinted at them. “I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to see so many of you here at once. How unfortunate.”

“ _Unfortunate?_ ” Brian echoed.

“I did always have a flair for the dramatic… Got that from my Mummy, I guess,” Mercy began to pace, an empty smile upon her face, her fingertips gliding over the banister.

“Doctor what’s happened?” Amy asked quickly to the Timelord, who was watching with stoic horror.

“I did this.” He choked.

“Yes, I guess you did.” Mercy’s eyebrows went up ever so slightly at the phrase, “And I guess you did this too.” She flung open the Tardis doors, revealing the wreckage of an apartment opening to the sounds of screaming people and explosions. The Scholars building was engulfed in flames, every synthetically grown campus tree a ball of bright red tongues. The solarium collapsed, and the light of destruction shone on the horrified family.

“Mercy, What did you do?” River called out.

“I brought some friends.” Mercy walked right out into the warzone, debris flying around her, shrapnel whizzing past her as she spread her arms in victory.

“What do you mean?” The Doctor tried to run after her, but his family held him back. He could only watch helplessly as the girl raised her hand and a white beam shot down from the sky, swallowing her whole for a mere blink and then the girl stood independent again, now dressed in a shiny black catsuit with a plunging lace neckline and her decorative stays tight laced in the front, a long black polished leather train hanging down from her waist. Gone was the Vintage Cottagecore Spacepirate clothes she used to wear, replaced with this Ebony Princess that now stood before them. Mercy’s eyes were rimmed in dark makeup, her hair straightened and pulled back into a tight bun on the back of her head, woven with raven’s feathers and stygian pearls.

“Ah, that feels much better,” she twisted her neck, stretching in her new outfit. “Stand down!” Her arms flew up dramatically, and the sky froze, ships stopping and the swarming metallic army above coming to an obedient halt. 

“I bring peace,” She said to the clouds. Mercy’s eyes flicked to her parents, “I bring destruction.”

Immediately, the army resumed, the Daleks landing behind her. The Doctor called out in warning. She laughed at him, the metal shells flanking her, gathering their numbers.

The Doctor repeated, “Mercy, What have you done?”

“Don’t you see? I’ve won you the universe, Father.” With those words, she was beamed up to the ship. The Daleks followed, not one harming the Doctor or his family. River aimed her gun at one, but it simply said, “I am your humble subject and no threat to you, Empress Superior.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” Amy’s mouth fell open.

“What did you just call me?” River yelled at the Dalek, “Where is my daughter?!?”

“The Crown Flag ship, your Majesty,” Another Dalek answered, “Do you wish to follow her?”

Before River or the Doctor could answer, the Dalek army turned and shot the conversational one to smithereens. “We apologize, your Graces, for that Dalek’s ignorance. It will not happen again.”

“What was its transgression?” Amy asked, trying to shush Mini-Mercy, who was crying from the noise.

“That Dalek was treasonous for even suggesting that The Empress would follow anyone, Queen dowager,” The army answered in unison. Amy looked surprised at the title.

“Do you still wish to join the Dark Warrior?” A third Dalek asked.

“Yes!” The Doctor and River replied together, and on their command, they too were teleported to the massive ship above. When they arrived, The couple found that apparently a Wardrobe change was in order for both of them as well, as The Doctor Found himself in a much fancier version of the Traditional Gallifreyan royal robes, made of rare materials and real Titanium buttons with gallifreyan words for strength and power over the headdress. River, on the other hand, was in rich fabrics of a very modernized classic royal blood red gown, minamilized down to the basics, the back skirts longer than the front ones, which went only to her knees. It was dripping with precious stones and embroidered silks that swished when she walked. “Mercy has good taste,” River noticed her reflection in one of the polished walls, and her fingers graced over the new necklace she wore.

“I’m not one for Tiaras, but you look good,” The Doctor tried to compliment her.

“Don’t you forget I’m still livid with you,” River’s hands fell away as they power-walked down the hallway, “Let’s go get our daughter.”

It was easy enough to find the Command Center of the vessel, and both parents were unnerved by the Daleks, who would move to the side out of their way, bowing their eyestalks and lowering their guns in respect.

“How did this even happen?” The Doctor wondered aloud when they finally found the main entrance to a large room, Daleks and Humans alike working the computers, three large thrones placed near the front, overlooking the huge window where sunlight streamed in. The tallest seat in the middle was unoccupied, and The Doctor recognized it as the Ancient Gallifreyan President’s chair. In the gilded throne next to it, their daughter lounged, man-spreading over the armrest, picking her fingernails with a knife, which she hid back in her sleeve just as fast.

“Mercy Amelia Song!” River called to her. The Girl looked up. 

“No one calls me that.” Her voice was soft, almost as if she hadn’t heard the name in a long while. Mercy cocked her head, “Always _‘The Warrior’_ or _‘Dark Warrior’_ ... Sometimes _‘The Oncoming Reckoning’_ …” She paused, getting up to walk toward them, “So many names for one Princess. Look upon your creation, Father, and take pride. The universe is in your hands, the very laws of fate within your grasp.”

“This is not the right path, Daughter,” He warned.

“Who said anything about right or wrong? I have given you the Universe itself, Father!” Mercy held out her scarred hands toward the Moon below, “These people, this army bows to you alone.”

“Mercy, what are you trying to do?” River stepped in, staring into her daughter’s eyes. For the first time, she saw no love in them.

“To test him. To see if his sacrifice is worth the cost.” Mercy smiled that maniacal smile again, “We could live a millenia, then another, together as a family.” Mercy folded her hands before her, righting her regal posture as she sat back down. “You could even have more Children. As many as My Dear Mother gives you.”

The Doctor could see his life here in this topsy-turvy world. Many many years ago, he’d given up a life with a matroness of a boarding school. Before he’d made his final choice, the Doctor had gotten a glimpse, as he did now.

River and he grew old together over thousands of years. They rebuilt Gallifrey, their many children the monarchs of full solar systems. Their family the largest and so full of love. He could guide the Universe out of war and into a Golden Age. Mercy could live her life, accompanying her mother on any and every archeology expedition they wanted. They would live as gods.

But it wouldn’t be real. It would be built on the rejection of every moral he held dear. 

The Doctor looked back at the life he was being offered. He _deserved_ this. He’d been fighting villains and saving lives and running for over a thousand years. Now, he could rest. He could live, thrive with his family, undaunted by every challenge that dared faced them. He’d been at war with the Daleks for so long, he had to admit it was a nice change to be in command of them for once. Maybe now, he could truly stop them from killing. 

He could sire the universe’s greatest of kings and queens, and River would be the mother of nations. She could have what she deserved. She would be an empress, the queen she was meant to be. He could give her so much more. Now, he could offer her a life without the looming of fate’s assured snaffling of their love. 

He felt his wife’s hands grasp his forearm, “Sweetie, don’t.” She warned, the look in her eyes causing him to snap into reality. River, his River, would never settle for this. Perhaps, in another timeline, where things were different, but that is not how things were cut out for them. He knew and believed that she existed as her own person, not as a childbearing wife. The Doctor knew she would never be happy as an Empress of an aborted timeline caused by his own selfishness and egotistical desires. He’d done this to their daughter. He’d done this to their family. 

Mercy was no longer their booksmart, mysterious daughter who had dropped out of the sky one day, but a cruel commander of _Daleks_ . She’d chosen a name, as all Timelords did. He was _the Doctor_ . His Best Friend _‘The Master’_ . His own Mother had been _‘The Teacher’._ His Daughter, _‘The Warrior.’_

He looked over the destruction, the Moon below, The earth, which they orbited, rebuilt in the form of his home. It was wrong. So very wrong.

“No.” The Doctor turned away, stripping off the heavy headdress and rubbing his face in his hands. River held him while he crumbled, her face before his, waiting for his choice. The Doctor’s vision flew over the throne room, the command center, the beautiful image of his precious wife, and the cold figure of his rewritten daughter. “No,” He repeated, “I will not do this any longer.”

“Say what?” Mercy asked, frowning.

“I said, _NO!_ ” The Doctor rushed forward, taking River’s hand in his and embracing his daughter, alarms going off as time slowly began to tick, the fizzy pop of a vortex manipulator as he held on for dear life, hauling his daughter, quite literally kicking and screaming, towards the Tardis door where they’d reappeared.

“In the Tardis, Now, Ponds!” The Doctor shouted to the couple, who were sitting outside on a picnic blanket and lawn chairs, two daleks dutifully serving champagne and teacakes. River ushered them inside, Amy sounding sad about leaving behind such excellent service. River followed right behind her husband, helping to hold their daughter as the girl fought and screamed atrocities at them. Brian was awkwardly holding half a tuna sandwich (no idea where that came from) and looked surprised when the family almosted fell inside.

River grabbed Mini-Mercy from the bassinet by the console, and with her free hand, hit a pressure point of the back of the Princess Mercy’s neck, effectively knocking her out.

“You couldn’t have done that earlier?” The Doctor looked relieved, blood from his busted lip dripping down his face. 

“Take her!” River handed him the baby as well, and a familiar light shone around the family, whisking them away.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

“You really think she’ll be okay?” River gasped, and the Sister nodded, setting the girl’s limp hand back down on the soft hospital sheets. Their girl was back to how she had been before -at least in appearance- the bunny ears in River’s hands, the glitter still in her daughter’s hair. Mercy’s mind, however, had taken quite the toll.

“It isn’t the first time she’s been a patient here,” the Cat Woman smiled, her whiskers relaxing, “She has a pretty serious concussion, and some brain trauma, but nothing that can’t be fixed with a little therapy and good and proper rest,” The Sister of the infinite Schism told the parents.

“Who’s going to stay with her?” Amy inquired from the back, and she passed the baby over to it’s mother.

The Doctor looked down, “I will.” He turned to speak to his family, “I owe it to her, and all of you. Anyway, River is supposed to have Mini-Mercy, so this must be goodbye.” He bit his lip, “I already dropped everything off at your apartment in the 61st century.”

“You bring this Mercy to our house,” Rory offered, nodding to the sleeping girl in the hospital bed, “She can stay in the guest room and we’ll make sure to actually remember to bring her in for therapy and check-ups.”

“Oi, you can trust me to remember!” The Doctor countered.

The two Pond women looked to the floor, and Rory scratched the back of his neck. “18 years, Doctor,” Amy reminded him of their own adventures.

“That sounds like the best plan to me,” River nodded, “And until we find out this prophecy thing she was so worried about, we need to lay low, keep her quiet.”

The Doctor nodded, and nervously approached his wife, “Are you still mad at me?”

River gave him a single raised eyebrow, “If you’re asking if you can come for holidays and birthdays, then yes. A girl needs her father.”

“Wait, aren’t birthdays and holidays the same thing for her?” Amy casually observed.

River shrugged, “I guess you’re right.”

“Wait,” Amy reached into her back pocket, “I had these developed for you,” She held out several printed photos that the woman had apparently taken when they weren't looking. “I wish I had photos of my daughter’s birth, now you have photo’s of yours.” River took them, hugging her mother goodbye.

The Doctor jokingly saluted her, “Until next time, Empress Supreme.” With that, The Doctor watched as the woman held their child close, and zapped away.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

It took him three days.

Three days, and he did exactly what River had feared. Unable to watch his Daughter struggle to walk and talk, the way she stuttered when she spoke, and would have uncontrollable nightmares as her thoughts warred with that of her alter-ego, all because of his selfishness.

He couldn’t bear to watch her recover from his abuses, so one night, he took his key, unlocked the Tardis door, and stepped inside. In the dead of night, he left, slipped away, leaving his daughter behind against his better judgement. Why? Because he couldn’t stand his own guilt.

Little did the Doctor know, that same girl stood in the window, watching silently as her father abandoned her yet again, a tear that was quickly hidden slipping down her stone cold face.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Here, The Timeline I promised. Credit to the original makers of the Timeline that I used as a Template <3


	14. Trace The Water's Source, Back To The Trickle Where It Began

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And so VOLUME II begins! Following Mercy's memories and River's experiences as a new mother scattered over Mercy's first six years of life, this first chapter sets the stage for Mercy's side of the story, where she is now finding her own path in life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm terrible at writing children, but to preface, every child is drastically different from the other. I'd like to imagine that all timetots growing up had exceptional cognitive skills, but grew and progressed emotionally and physically at an identical rate to humans growing up. I reflected this theory in Mercy's school experience, which is a major focus of this chapter. 
> 
> this particular chapter has not been polished, and therefore might have a few rough points. At one section, there is a bit of dubious content, but nothing explicit.

Mercy Amelia Song’s first memory was of light. Golden light and laughter. Joy. Warmth. Peace. Her mother, leaning over her cradle to sing her the same lullaby she somehow knew was from her Father,

 _“May your hearts beat forever in the stars,_ _  
__And your lives become stories to always live._ _  
__May your memories appear to guide ours,_ _  
__And to your soul, all regard we shall give._ _  
__Then when come the end of time,_ _  
__And your breath become the substance of the orbits,_ _  
__Leading to those in proxime,_ __  
Your legacy to join that of strong spirits.”

While Mercy was young and little enough that maintenance was only needed in distinct intervals, River was quite happy to have discovered that she was able to balance adventures with home life. She escaped tombs, raided palaces, fought Daleks, stole treasure, all with Her baby strapped to her back, who learned to sleep to the sound of gunfire and to enjoy running from enemies. The baby would preoccupy herself (usually with tugging on Mummy’s hair) while River Song would stand her ground or use the excuse of being a New mother to get out of all sorts of situations.

Mercy retained few memories of these adventures, but after one particular scare, River had chosen to stop taking Mercy after a close call with a pesky police force who arrested Professor Song and almost took away her baby. Now, River kept her child home and away from the danger.

Even as a Mother, River was a Professor. When Mercy was little, she’d learned young that when Mummy was teaching a class, she was busy, and would have plenty of time once she was free. As a Timelady, Mercy understood these concepts quite easily when she was still but a babe, and would sit quietly in the moby sling while Mummy walked about the stage, speaking to her college students, lulling her child to sleep in the process.

Mercy had slowly learned to pull herself forward -not quite crawl- over her first year, and once Mercy found her freedom, became a very energetic baby indeed. Her mother never once dared take her eyes off her daughter for more than a minute, and found that fully baby-proofing her home was a whole new mountain to climb. 

On her first Birthday, she met her Father for the first time. He was loud and tall and energetic, and loved nothing more than to make her giggle and laugh at his silliness. He took her to see a planet of sandy beaches, but the baby was much more interested with her toes than looking at the multicolored sand. “She’s still young, give her time.” Her Mummy chided.

“Time is all I have to give her,” Mercy’s dad responded, and took her down to the waves, playing in the surf, running from the tides, then back out to the exposed sand, letting her feet dip into the saltwater before retreating further up shore, over and over again.

Crawling was mastered and She learned to say “Mama,” and she understood _‘no’_ s and _‘yes’_ s and _‘mummy loves you’_ and that _‘Mercy’_ or _‘baby’_ meant herself.

When she was old enough to behave, Mercy sat on a blanket off to the side of the stage, the real center of attention with each of her Mother’s lessons, the students happy to watch the baby rather than pay attention to their professor. River tried to balance being a mostly single mother and a Professor, many times paying her student workers a little more to watch her daughter for her as long as they stayed in the same room. River took zero chances when it came to her child.

“Do you think they need a pop quiz?” River asked in that special just-for-Mercy voice that was about an octave higher than usual. The Class sat forward in their seats, waiting for the child to decide their fate.

The baby shouted, “Yes!” and clapped her hands excitedly, bouncing in her mother’s arms, quite bemused by the chorus of groans from the students.

“And should it be a hard quiz?” River asked again, enjoying this little game as much as her daughter.

“No!” Mercy frowned and shook her head, her chubby cheeks making the cutest little sassy pout the kids had ever seen.

“Oh really? An easy pop quiz it is!” River decided, and set Mercy back down on her play mat. The Students cheered and pulled out their holopads, waiting for their first questions…

Her babyhood was full of happy memories and milestones, from beginning to eat solids to standing up by holding on to taller things, especially her Mother’s legs and she’d hide behind them, and feet padding across the Floor till her Mummy caught her and picked her up, shrieking with giggles, the Woman pressing kisses to her daughter’s face. When she wasn’t running, she was snuggly wrapped in a Moby sling against her mother’s chest, or getting into everything she could wrap her sticky little hands around.

Those first few years were mostly uneventful. Once, while putting her daughter down for a nap after a bath, an unexpected visitor appeared.

“Hey, Mum,” A soft voice said from the doorway, and River put her baby down into the crib, the tiny girl staring with wide eyes at the stranger that had appeared out of nowhere.

“I knew I heard a Vortex Manipulator,” River smiled, embracing the older girl, who didn’t mind that her Mum was also soaked in bathwater. River’s hands cupped her face and asked the girl, “Your age?” She inquired about these things each time they met, wanting no chance for spoilers. 

“Twenty-one,” Mercy answered, “Graduated again a Month ago. Guess who’s your shiny new archaeologist?”

River smiled, “Visited any of my old digs lately?”

The girl shook her head, “How’s your day been?” Elder Mercy asked her mother.

“You’re quite the handful,” River replied, “Are you alright?”

Mercy smiled, “I’m fine, Mum. Just wanted to see you,” She replied, “Dad’s taking me to The First Civilization on Mars today. You know, the official one that Elon Musk’s son headed after Adelaide Brook’s mission failed?”

“Are you staying a while?” River asked.

Mercy shook her head, “No Time. Dad’s waiting to meet me soon.”

“ _Time travel,_ Mercy. You can wait and talk to your old Mum for a few more minutes.” River offered, “Tea? I was just about to have some myself.”

Mercy smiled, defeated. “Thank you, Mum,” Mercy nodded, taking the steaming mug, stirring around the hot water, watching the teabag spin as it steeped. “I just got back from My grandparents and Christmas 2010. You were huge.”

River smiled, “You were fighting Daleks and getting me my Vortex Manipulator Booster.”

Mercy grinned, and took a sip, burning her tongue, “Dad thought I was you the First time he saw me.” She snickered.

“That poor blind man,” River shook her head, “I’m not a redhead.” 

“Oh, _Spoilers_ Mum, but not yet.” Mercy set down the mug.

“How’d you know I was thinking of dying it?” River ran her hands over the halo of curls.

Mercy just looked down at the ground, “I just… do.”

“I brought the things you left at Luna University here if you want to get them,” River offered, nodding to a box in the corner of her new living room. Mercy got up, stepping into the living room, and looking down the hall and through the open door to the bedroom, where her younger self held onto the crib bars to stand and stare. “You be good to our Mum, got it?” She said. 

Mercy hugged her mother and thanked her, and she waved goodbye to her younger self, who only gave her weird looks in return. Mercy said, “I love you.”

“I love you too,” River acknowledged her words, and placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulders, “You be safe, alright?” and the older girl nodded, zapping out of space and through time itself. River was pained, knowing that her daughter would have to face the effects of the time melt in her next few years, and struggle through so much more within her lifetime.

“Did you see that girl?” River’s voice turned back to her baby tones, walking over picking her toddler back up out of the crib, disregarding the formerly planned nap, “That’s gonna be you someday,” She kissed her cheek, and grinned.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Mercy’s second birthday was spent with the Ponds again. River knew they only had two Christmasses to spend together before New York would happen, so decided to save her last one for a year she felt Mercy would treasure the family dynamic.

She learned to walk and to her mother’s great fear, climb furniture. There was nothing quite like it when River looked up to see her baby standing, quite proud of herself, on the coffee table. She was quickly scooped up and discouraged from ever doing something like that again. For the baby, that whole thing was immediately disregarded, as it was a fun game to climb and have Mummy get worried.

Mercy’s father visited once, and her Mummy had been forced to hide Mercy when River had realized that this Doctor was way too young to have any idea about who the baby was. She’d been busy disassembling her baby’s crib (it didn't fit through her bedroom doorway when whole) and was moving it into the child’s new room for herself. She’d quickly shut the bedroom door and stepped into the living room.

“Oh come on, Riv,” He begged, “We can be back before dinner and you can get your grading done later.”

“Sweetie, I’d love to, but I’m kind of busy right now,” River stepped in front of him, praying to every deity she knew of that Mercy would stay quiet while she played in the bedroom.

“But there’s nothing happening that you can’t let wait, can you?” He asked sheepishly.

“I have dinner tonight, with a friend,” She made an excuse.

“Another man?” The Doctor asked, “Or woman…?”

“No, no, not like that. I’ve been a bit too busy to focus on that side of my life lately… had my hands full, you see. With work. And Tomb Raiding. And dealing with delicate objects.” River spoke quickly, her feet pushing baby toys under the couch and hoping he didn’t notice the plastic dishes in the sink or the baby clothes in the laundry basket to her left on the armchair. 

A small sound of muffled crashing came from the bedroom. River gave him an innocent look.

“I see you’re definitely busy,” The Doctor bit his lip.

“I got a cat.” River smiled.

“You hate pets.”

“Many changes in the 61’st century, Sweetie,” River shrugged and fluffed her curls.

“Oh,” The Doctor looked down at his feet, “I’ll go, then.” He nodded quickly to himself, spinning on his heels, back into the Tardis parked in her living room. When it disappeared with his stupid brakes being left on and a gentle wind on her shoulder, River opened the bedroom door, “You little troublemaker,” She said, shaking her head at the little girl who had pulled down a small stack of her crib’s railings.

The baby cackled at her. “Mama. Mama. Mama!” Her arms raised, and River obliged, pulling the girl up.

“Yeah, I’m here, and your father probably thinks I’m cheating on him,” River and Mercy brushed noses.

“Dada!”

“Yes, that was your Dada. But your Dada didn’t know it was you,” River told her, lazily pushing the wooden parts to the edge of the floor and setting the baby down on her bed. “Whatcha got there?” 

The baby held up the tool she’d found sitting on the bed.

“Is that a screwdriver?” River gasped, “Oh your father would be so proud. Hold still!” She pulled out her phone and took a picture to give to her husband the next time she met one old enough.

The baby tried to shove the screwdriver’s handle into her mouth, and River put away her phone, removing the tool from her baby’s mouth and commenting, “You know, your father’s screwdriver has been in _much_ worse places than a mouth,” She stepped over to one of her jewelry boxes, opening one of her favorites. River pawed around until she found what she was looking for in the bottom.

“This is _your_ screwdriver, you lucky thing,” River held up the tool, “Your father said you could have it when you turned twelve, but I think it wouldn’t hurt to show it to you.”

River held out the sonic, turning it over in her hands. The toddler reached out for the shiny new thing, and River handed it to her. Mercy took it, staring at the new toy. “Ah!” She exclaimed when it buzzed under her touch. She dropped it, then reached out again, pushing the button to make it buzz again. The Two-year-old laughed, waving it around.

“Okay, Okay,” River took it back the next time it was dropped, shoving a stuffed animal to distract the child until she could hide the Screwdriver back in the jewelry box for a much later date.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

When Mercy was three, River began to reevaluate her respect for mothers everywhere, as she slowly survived the toddler stage, and enrolling her daughter into kindergarten seemed to help a little, taking the stress off her back from teaching and watching her daughter at the same time, and it was good for Mercy to start socializing with kids her age. Perhaps moving on from looking at STEM picture books and watching holo-documentaries to having a Year one Teacher would help.

“Mummy! Mummy! Mummy!” The little girl came running out of the tot school, tears streaming down her face, arms stretched out. River squatted down, tenderly scooping up her daughter and holding her close.

“What’s wrong, baby? Hey, what is it?” River rubbed her hand over the child’s back, and the second her hand touched her baby’s neck, the rush of emotions hit her too. River had figured out how to carefully establish a telepathic connection with her daughter by opening her mental gates a little bit at a time, and reassuring her. Mercy had no control, the hurt and the pain hitting her mother’s shields in waves as she cried.

River let Mercy know her mother was there, and when she calmed, The Professor asked, “Better now?”

The toddler nodded her head vigorously, and said, “A boy said my eyes were weird.”

“Your eyes are green, like mine. Are Mummy’s eyes weird too?” River leaned forward and they brushed noses while the girl dried her tears.

“Noooooooooo.” Mercy replied.

“Then why did you believe him?”

“He was bigger.”

“Well, just because someone is bigger than you, doesn't mean they're right.” Professor Song told her gently, holding the tiny lunch box and backpack with three fingers while they took the Electrotrain home.

Every day was full of battles of their own, with the toddler discovering her ability to throw temper tantrums that could last up to an hour or more. She also quickly discovered that her Mummy had no patience for such displays of disagreement, and would have to relearn that fact over multiple occasions.

When Mummy went on expatitions, the baby stayed with her grandparents in Cardiff in the 21st century. She liked that house, where she could run barefooted through the green grass in the backyard. Her grandpa Rory tended to spoil her rotten, taking her to the park when he wasn’t on a shift at the hospital or buying her ice cream when Grandmum Amy wasn’t looking.

Sometimes, if the Ponds were busy, River called on some older, most trusted friends, Jenny and Vastra, who loved their friend’s daughter as their own. The two Victorian wives were exceptional baby-sitters, and River knew Mercy would be safe with both of them. Mercy loved her Aunts as well, and would sit attentive while Jenny taught her old etiquette, saying, “If you ever time travel like your parents, you’ll want to know how to fit in,” and then Vastra would let the child play with her paints while the Ancient Woman created works of her own art. Strax was continuously supplying tiny, fully operational Sontaran Weapons, which were always quickly confiscated by one of the two, more practical women. 

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

When she was four, Mercy’s hair had finally turned curly, and was still blonde-ish from her babyhood. River taught her not to try to brush it when it was dry, and not to tug at it. On her birthday, Her father had brought her tickets to Asgard, where the family enjoyed the planet-sized amusement park, and rode every roller coaster The Doctor used his psychic paper to get VIP line skipping privileges for.

Mercy made friends at elementary school and one day, one of the teachers asked to speak with River, who obliged, worried her daughter had gone and kicked another kid again.

“Mrs. Song, you daughter has displayed advanced cognitive abilities, and I’d like your permission to run a test to see how her future education may play out.” The Teacher asked, and River smiled to herself.

“Of course you may, Mr. Barns,” River signed the waiver, and that night made sure Mercy got a good night’s sleep. When morning came, River hyped her daughter up for the test, telling her she’ll do great if she does her best.

Mercy did do great.

“Mercy should be in Year Four,” The teacher looked astounded.

“At _four and a half_?” River skeptically asked.

The Teacher nodded, “If she improved her reading skills, she could actually qualify to be in Year Four by the end of the month. She’s smart as a whip.” The teacher added, “But if you think it would be best for her mental health and social life to stay here, I will support your decision concerning her academics.”

River thanked him and said, “I’ll work with her. If she’s anything like her parents, she’ll get bored pretty soon if she doesn't feel challenged.”

And so River set to work with Mercy, playing interactive games with her, and reading books together. Mercy began to be able to pronounce her bigger words with more accuracy, excited to learn because her Mum promised her a big ice cream trip if she learned her stuff.

Three weeks later, she was moved to the classroom with even bigger kids than before. But here, the math was new, and the Science was more interesting. It took a while for the Third grade teacher to accept the child as an equal participant to her other students, but once realizing Mercy was intellectually prepared, pressed her just as hard as everyone else.

River loved the effect that teacher had on her child. The mentor knew how to balance giving challenges while still handling the significantly lower ability to process emotional changes and social stress her daughter struggled with.

Seven months later, Mercy was testing higher than her peers once again, who looked at her with resentment. River gave Mercy all the love her child needed, helping her to grow and learn and play. 

Mercy got her first personal taste of adventure when River took her to a zoo, which fascinated the child. In the 61’st century, one could be offered much more than your normal Lion or Zebra or Armadillo. They spent the day looking at all the different beasts and fuzzy things and scaly critters that stared back through the glass. Zoos had drastically improved since the 21’st century after the animal cruelty movements created laws that made conservation the main focus and much more important than the money. Most zoos nowadays focused entirely on preserving species and building safe and spacious enclosures that instead of having little glass boxes, were instead massive buildings that could take days to properly see everything, each building focusing on a different climate, large glass tubes running through it for visitors to view animals in the closest thing to a natural habitat possible. Mercy loved to squish her face into the glass, and watch the leopards and the weird alien rabbits from the other side of the galaxy and the lizards whose breath could calcify anything into ‘stone’.

The zoo became a favorite weekend trip for Mercy, who never grew tired of it, until River would carry her sleeping girl on her shoulders home, and she could place her baby girl down to sleep at night, and whisper her love.

Some nights, the girl would wake up with nightmares, crying in her mother’s arms, sobbing about whatever terror haunted her dreams and flashed past her closed eyes. River would hold the child close, singing that lullaby her husband had loved, all about the wonder of the stars and time. It never failed, and would lul her baby girl to sleep every time.

River struggled. She didn’t show it, but she was so guilty of getting bored. She was a mother. She was supposed to love nothing more than her baby, but she missed running. She missed the close calls, the parties, the hook-ups, the murders, the treasures, and she missed her freedom. She missed being able to bring someone home and not worry about having to worry about her baby. She missed being able to get absolutely trollied and not having to wake up the next morning or put a child to bed. She missed so much of her old, carefree life.

With a child, she had to consider second thoughts now. She had a human being to think of and care for and protect. (She’d never tell her husband about how when Mercy was much younger, River would go adventuring anyway with her daughter wrapped in a sling against her back, facing dangers just like before, the thrill and the adrenaline rush therapeutic to her) 

But River knew her priorities. She’d never live with herself if something happened to Mercy. And she vowed, once again, to protect her child with her life.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

Mercy’s fifth birthday was a ruckus of excitement and craze, The Doctor helping River to decorate the apartment for the classic birthday party, with bright purple and white streamers and balloons and the party favors. They’d covered the Christmas tree in bright colorful bows of ribbon and sparkling lights the night before while their daughter was asleep. They’d planned for a week, sending out party invitations to each of the students in Mercy’s class, who were so boringly normal, in the Doctor’s opinion. The three Timelords spent a couple hours trying to figure out a cake recipe, and once it was revealed from the oven, the desert deflated and crumbled right in front of their eyes. 

“Oh no,” River threw the burnt, limp crust into the trash chute, her hands on her face in defeat. “It’s a child’s birthday party slash Christmas party. Can it really be that hard?”

“Here, give me the ingredients,” The Doctor collected the bottles and bags and boxes quickly combining the mix to produce a batter. “I’ll be right back with a cake.”

Three Minutes later, a very distressed, “River! Help!” came from the open Tardis doors. She investigated, completely unprepared for the sight that befell her eyes.

The Doctor was being dragged from the Tardis’s kitchen by a very angry looking cow who’d somehow managed to catch the back of the Doctor’s suit collar on one of her horns, and was munching an ear of corn while she ran, chickens in her wake and a trail of trampled vanilla plants flying behind them.

“What happened?!?” River ran from the heifer, thanking that the Tardis created a loop, the Doctor floundering around until the cloth tore and he was deposited on the ground with two sleeves and four buttons intact.

“I threw it in the Temporal oven. You know, the one that cooks things real fast, well I think I put it on _negative_ a hundred and seventy _days_ instead of a hundred and seventy _degrees celsius!_ ”

“Takes the meaning of _‘raw ingredients’_ to another level,” River said with an amused smile and she pulled her husband up onto his feet as she dusted himself off. River pulled a stray cocoa bean from his floppy hair.

“What do we do?” The Doctor asked, and a loud bellow from the cow echoed down the hall. 

“We can’t get it all back in the oven, can we?” River wondered, pulling the torn tweed from his shoulders and arms, dropping them shreds to the floor. She went for the rest of his shirt.

“Well undressing me isn’t helping,” he stuttered, and his wife pushed him against the wall, her hands traveling up his body.

“Who said it wasn’t helping?” She whispered into his ear, nipping at the lobe.

“River there’s a _cow_ in the Tardis and _six_ chickens and- _oh!_ ” He jumped backwards, redoing up his pants, shirt already half off.

“Fine, fine. Equal play then,” River crossed her arms over her front, and pulled her shirt off with one quick swing, dropping it to the floor. “I’m not as fit as I used to be, But-” He cut her off with a kiss. Apparently that did the trick. She cupped her breasts with her hands, and his eyes ran over her body.

“You had a bloody baby. Of course You’re different,” He said slowly, “I like different. It's beautiful.” That seemed to be the deciding factor, and the rest goes unsaid, moreover than thanking the Tardis for containing the farm animals until her occupants had had a party of their own.

Later that day, River ended up selling a cow and five chickens (they never found the sixth) and buying a cake from the local supermarket. When three o’clock whirled around, however, they waited anxiously for guests to arrive. Their little girl sat, enthralled, waiting for her friends to show up.

“Are you sure you put the right time on the invites?” The Doctor asked, looking back at the door. 

“Yes. Three o’clock, December 24th,” River read off the paper. “I gave one to each of her classmates.”

“It’s three twenty-seven,” The Doctor said quietly.

A pained expression crossed River’s face, “What’s so hard about coming to a five-year-old’s birthday party?” She crossed her arms, insulted and angry at the kids who never showed up.”

“Mummy, where is everybody?” The little girl pulled on her mother’s skirt, looking up. “Are they planning a surprise?”

“No, I don’t think so, baby,” River picked up the girl, who then reached for her father.

The Doctor took her at arm’s length, swinging her around a bit before setting the girl to sit up on his shoulders. “How about we forget this whole damp-sounding party thing and go on an adventure. What do you think, Mercinator?”

“Yeah!” The girl was quickly distracted, and River raised an eyebrow at her husband.

“Well then. Where do you want to go?” The doctor asked, bending far over so his daughter didn’t bump her head on the ceiling, then again when he went through the Tardis doors. “Whouldja look at that?” The Doctor gasped in mock surprise, “As fez for both of us!” He held onto Mercy’s feet with one hand, and picked up the two differently sized red hats op with the other, handing the smaller one to Mercy, who daintily shoved it on her head, curls squishing out the sides. She helped her Father put on his, and then he climbed the steps up the Tardis. 

“Where too, Mercinator?”

“Uhhhh…” The little girl gave a very convincing thinking face, “I wanna see a star!”

“A plain old boring star?” The Doctor faltered.

River leaned against the railing, “It’s her birthday, dear, and you promised her anything.”

“A star it is, then!” The Doctor used one hand to fly the ship, River working the rest of the gears so he didn’t have to let go of Mercy, who leaned over excitedly to watch her parents work.

“Woah!” The child exclaimed when the Doctor spun, making her giggle from her perch. He squatted down, and told her they needed one more thing before the tardis would land.

“Pull the lever all the way down, Mercy,” River nodded, and the birthday girl leaned down and grabbed it with both hands, pushing it down with all her might. On cue, the bong sounded and the Tardis landed. 

“Lemme down! Lemme down!” Mercy demanded, and as soon as her feet touched the floor, she took off towards the doors. 

“You get back here, young lady!” The Doctor called after her, “We need to protect your little eyes!” He dug around in his pockets, running to catch up with the girl who was jumping to try to reach the door handles. He unfolded the sunglasses, pushing the oversized spectacles up her nose. She recoiled, “I can’t see, daddy!”

“You will in a moment,” He told her, putting on his own and passing a pair to his wife as well, who also had something of importance. “Sunscreen for you,” River chided, smearing the white cream over her little nose and cheeks. Once the mother finished her procedure of precaution, dropping a dollop on the Doctor’s nose against his will, she rubbed some on her own face and then flung open the Tardis doors.

“Woooooah!” Mercy’s face lost all of earlier’s disappointment as she stared at the relatively small star outside the Tardis doors. Her eyes full of wonder and the toothiest grin on her face reflected back the light of the star.

“Has she seen a star this close before?” The Doctor tried to recall if they’d shown their daughter any celestial bodies like this.

“Not that she remembers, I don’t think so,” River whispered back.

“Wait, Mummy, Daddy, I can’t see it no more!” Mercy looked distraught as the Tardis slowly rotated around in space, the original wonder slowly disappearing around the side.

“Be patient, Mercinator. I promised you stars, right?” The Doctor ran his hand over the girl’s messy head of not-quite-red curls, who was very grumpy about the disappearance of her star.

“Is that a Nebwula?” Mercy gasped, and the cloud of space dust came into view, glittering with the birth of stars and the swirling gravity of so many stars. 

“This one is called _‘The Forest of Stars_ ,” The Doctor told her, “It’ll be a very popular tourist attraction in a few thousand years,” He wrapped his arm around his wife, and stared out, seeing the beauty through his daughter’s eyes.

“Best birthday ever,” Mercy grinned.

•—•>•—•>•—•>:x:<•—•<•—•<•—•

“Mrs. Song, as a prodigy, Mercy will undoubtedly have a hard time fitting in. I strongly suggest you make sure she always has at least a few consistent peers, whether they be neighborhood friends or family, so she doesn't feel isolated.” The teacher said.

“Well I’ve tried that. Not one of her classmates showed up to her birthday party, so she began isolating herself because she feels like an outcast.” River expressed her fear, “She’s told me twice that she believes something’s wrong with her, no matter what I tell her to the contrary.” The woman told the teacher, “I already limit her screen time and make sure she goes to the park often… What else can I do? I’m a professor. While I wish I could spend every second at her side, I don’t have all the time in the world.” River told her, “And she’s hardly old enough to be in Year Two, let alone the Fourth.”

“Well… speaking of that, I’ve already moved her to advanced Math classes…” The Teacher said, “She understands multiplication and division better than anyone else in my class.”

River looked skeptical. She turned to the sleepy child in her arms. “Hey Mercinator, What’s five times five?”

The girl looked up with sleep fogged eyes, “But Mummy…” She complained, and looked down, fidgeting with her fingers then answering, “Five times five equals twenty-five.”

River’s eyebrows went up, “Do you know what ten times four is?”

Mercy blinked at her. “Twenty.” 

River looked at the teacher, “As you were say-”

“No! Is forty! Twenty is the weast common denomwinator,” Mercy corrected herself.

“What the hell?” River breathed, “Okay baby, go back to sleep… Thank you for helping Mum.”

“And I didn’t teach her that,” The child’s Teacher told River, “Mercy got caught doing the Sixth year student’s homework for them the other day.”

“You have got to be kidding me,” River’s eyes went wide. Sounded like something her husband would do, alright. And once Mercy had started reading, it was like she couldn’t stop. Her brain was a sponge, desperately trying to fill itself. It wouldn’t be unlike Mercy to have found a Mathbook, read it over the course of a day or less, and come out understanding every ounce of it.

“Because of her age, she wasn’t in trouble, but we would like to request that you speak with her and discourage such behavior.” The teacher asked, looking just as amused. 

“Of course,” River nodded, her hand rubbing the back of her daughter, who was fast asleep by now in her arms, head on her Mother’s shoulders.

“But back to my first topic,” The teacher circled back around, “I’d like to ask if I could enter her into personalized classes so that she can advance at her own pace.”

River sighed, “You’re just too smart for your own good, baby,” She whispered, and the conference ended, with Mercy moving up a grade once again.

Life returned to normal, day by day passing in a happy peace. In the back of River’s head, every now and then, she’d remember the warning her grown-up Mercy had given them about a prophecy of some sort that results with half the universe after her, and River would worry. She’d worry about her daughter’s future. She’d worry about when River wasn’t there to protect her, would Mercy be able to defend herself when the time came?

Mercy’s school life didn’t change much over the following year, just being ahead in most classes and in classrooms full of much older kids. The personalized classes worked wonders, and Mercy was able to learn at her own pace. Now, she was able to make friends and grow up.


End file.
